Portland Trail Blazers: 4 keys to victory over the Nuggets in the NBA playoffs

Portland Trail Blazers Key No. 4: Portland’s role players outperforming Denver’s

Right now, when you look at these two teams on paper, the Blazers have the more talented roster front-to-back with guys who are going to be playing in this series.

In my opinion, the ten best players in this series go:

• 1A Nikola Jokic
• 1B Damian Lillard
• CJ McCollum
• Norman Powell
• Michael Porter Jr.
• Jusuf Nurkic
• Robert Covington
• Aaron Gordon
• Carmelo Anthony
• Enes Kanter

If Jamal Murray and Will Barton are playing, they crack that list with Murray probably in front of McCollum.

Denver has excellent star power in Jokic and Porter, but after that, their roster doesn’t really have anyone who should scare Portland too much. Aaron Gordon is the one exception and could be considered a star, but Portland will probably dare him to shoot and score over Jokic and Porter.

Gordon is very athletic and a good defender, and if he finds his 3-point shot, he could have a significant impact. But he was better for Denver when they had Murray, and he didn’t have to be relied upon as heavily on offense.

Because of the Murray injury, Facundo Campazzo has moved into the starting lineup, and Austin Rivers is playing over 25 minutes a game off the bench. Denver also relies on Jamychal Green, Javale McGree and Shaquille Harrison to play crucial minutes off the bench.

They could get Barton and Dozier back, but they both haven’t played in a few weeks, and who knows how much production they can give right away.

The Blazers need their role players to be better, and they should because they are more talented. Like Gordon for Denver, Covington can hit shots and plays great help defense, Anthony is a scoring weapon capable of going off at any moment, Kanter is the best offensive rebounder in the league, and Simons is an energizer bunny.

All four of those guys can make a huge impact and swing a game themselves. I don’t think Denver’s “other” guys can do the same.