The Nuggets are getting inside the heads of the Trail Blazers

Portland took the fight to the Nuggets in Game 1 of this series, but in Game 2, Denver fired right back at Portland and gave them a little taste of their medicine. It was very clear to see that Denver was in the heads of the Trail Blazers players and coaches all game long, especially after an early altercation. 

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In the first-quarter after one of the first timeouts, Michael Porter Jr. gave Jusef Nurkic a little shove when walking to their benches, which resulted in a little scuffle between the coaches and players of both teams. 

Porter Jr. was hit with a technical foul, as was Portland associate head coach Nate Tibbetts, who was very fired up and yelling at the Nuggets bench after what had happened. Soon after this altercation, Carmelo Anthony shoved Nikola Jokic to the ground after a screen set by Jokic, which led to a flagrant foul penalty one being called on Anthony. 

Then in the second-half, C.J. McCollum shove Facundo Campazzo down during an inbounds play for Denver, resulting in another flagrant foul being called on Portland. All game long, it seemed like the little things were setting the Trail Blazers off, which was a win for the Nuggets. 

They got in the heads of the Portland Trail Blazers and moving forward, if they can “poke the bear” with the Blazers, then they will have the upper-hand in this series. On the other side of things, Portland needs to let the little things go and cannot be doing the dumb things like they did in Game 2 like shoving players and picking up “petty” fouls. 

It should be very interesting to see how Portland responds on their home court in Game 3 of this series and if they look to play even tougher with Denver given the circumstance of Game 2’s altercations. This is one of the more intriguing matchups in the NBA at this stage.