NSL Insider - R2 Preview: Portland V Denverby Nenjabin, updated on Friday, May 19 2023, 04:10 am EST Round 1 is run and done now and Round 2 is
here, as we narrow the field to 4 teams per conference trying to reach the
ultimate goal! This one in the West is the big one. The
NSL legendary team, already, in the Portland Trailblazers matching up with the 5th
seeded Denver Nuggets, the next contender to try and take down the goliath. The
Blazers are trying to defend their title and were the team to beat again this
year, while the Nuggets are finally enjoying a year of health so they can
genuinely contend. The Blazers The Blazers are the benchmark of the league
year in and year out led by the ultimate in competitive and savvy, GM JMac. The
man wants to win, always, and knows how to go about it, constantly refreshing a
roster with winning moves and accumulating assets while also upgrading in the
same moves to find pieces that complement each other seamlessly around at least
two of the most elite players in the league as a staple. It�s a masterclass
watching Joel and they are the favourites now and were before the season even
began. The Blazers did as the Blazers do all year
again this year. 70 wins is almost an expectation in Portland, which is
evidenced by the reaction to any kind of suggestion of losing a quarter let
alone a game! They managed to find a sucker to not only take Westbrook to free
them up to make moves to retool, but to actually give them viable assets and
expect nothing back in the process and this entire year of success is on the
back of that move. They were already set to be the team to beat, but they were
able to reboot to be even better now, and re-open their window another few year
past the now too in one move. They acquired their man finally, Lebron James,
even though it took a while for him to come due to different salary and
contractual complications pairing two of the three most impactful and elite players
in the league and game on the one court. Bringing back the winningest big man
in the league in Andre Drummond was key to anchoring it all, even when the
stars were out, and role players with size and 2 way skills were the target
otherwise to compile the roster that won the regular season. The team that won
70 games has only 3 players inside the ESPN top 100. Just think on that a
moment when considering the elite management of this roster to get wins even
without the big names. This is JMac�s world, and we�re just living in it. The Blazers Round 1 went exactly as anyone
would have tipped really confronting the 8th seeded, play-in
winning, feel good story of the league in the Phoenix Suns. The Suns were no
match as the Blazers rolled over them with an average margin of +21, also with
an insane +18 rebounds, +10 Offensive. Lebron and KD each averaged 24 a night
and KD added 3 blocks also from the wild SG position. Just cause they could,
Andre Drummond came off the bench despite averaging 18 rebounds a game through
the regular season and being the #17 player in the league, so they actually
left a lot in the tank on their way through also. The Nuggets The Nuggets come into this series knowing
they are pushing �it� up hill before it even begins. 50 wins for them this
year, and they got over the 4th seeded Wolves relatively easily in
the end which was probably unexpected even by this very writer, but it pails to
the 70 win juggernaut they are coming up against here. That said, they�re an
offensive minded team that in theory can put it up on the board as well as
anyone if it all comes together correctly. Steph is elite, Klay is healthy,
Porter is a scorer, Sabonis is a multi faceted star and they have nothing to
lose. Denver were the picture of consistency this
year not actually making a single move to the roster after they made their
offseason move to bring in Sabonis. No trades. No signings save for converting
their 2way guy, Anthony Lamb, who slotted into the open roster spot they held
for him all year, and no released guys, either. They dealt with injuries in
house and adjusted as needed within the season opening roster and save for
Serge Ibaka taking indefinite leave along the way, they stayed healthy for the
playoffs which is all you can really ask. They�ve got a really nice blend of
experience and youth and it all circles around that 3 point shot of which they
took nearly 700 more attempts through the year than their opponents. You know
what they are going to bring and try to win this series and it�s going to be
all around those shots dropping. In Round 1, we saw the Nuggets come flying
out of the gates against the Wolves, taking the first 3 games of the series,
which prompted the response from most of �How many games until they advance?�.
Advance they did, but it took 6 games in the end after the Wolves clawed back a
couple of games due to their coaching adjustments. Steph led all scorers in the
series with 22.5 points while Klay averaged 19 and Sabonis and Willy combined
for 28 rebounds per game. The series was tight, the scoring despite 4-2, being
exactly a net 0. They had a +4 on the boards, which will need to be a strength
and their low defensive numbers, particularly blocked shots, was characteristic.
They played as you would imagine and go the job done, and now need to focus on
the massive task ahead. The Match-Ups: C Projected: Jakob Poeltl Vs Domantas
Sabonis For this version of 2k, the big man battle
is where the game is won and lost on so many occasions, and both of these teams
have a strong big man stable to choose from. The rebound battle is all
important, always, in 2k, but even more this year so this will be key. Poeltl is in his 4th incarnation
in Portland as pointed out by his GM when he once again brought him in, but
this time he has stuck and started all year. The man is slow, which has been
more of an issue in past engines, but he�s a beast on the boards and in defending
the paint and the perfect compliment to the stars in Portland. In Round 1 he
averaged 19 rebounds with his 13 points and this is a god send. He�ll look to replicate. I think Sabonis gets the 1st run
through the C spot in Denver. Typically, he�s been used as a PF this year but I
think if you�re going to pick your big man poison, matching him against Poeltl
is the preferable option to Drummond, hence, starting at C. He�s not your
defensive guy, but he�s a strong rebounder and he should offer more on the offensive
side of the ball too. 15 rebounds per game in Round 1, might need to up there
here though. -
I give the advantage to the
Nuggets marginally here. Impact wise, they are both going to be very very
similar but I think Sabonis has the chance to be an offensive impact guy also,
while Poeltl is all defensive. That said, Sabonis I expect to swing in and out
while Poeltl will lock in for all games. PF Projected: Andre Drummond Vs Willy
Hernangomez The PF spot has been the forgotten position
in 2k this year as everyone opts to just chuck size there as the engine demands
it, rather than see small ball and skilled and quick guys making this spot
their own like in the past. For this reason we see guys here that either impact
the boards heavily, and or guys that are simple role players. Here, we get the
full 2k experience in this match up. Drummond started nearly all games all year,
only to be bumped to the bench for Round 1. There�s much speculation as to why,
but it might just have been a way to test TT as a starter in a series Joel
expected to white wash regardless. I think Drummond comes back to starting though
as he�s just too much of a menace and against a shooting team like the Nuggets,
you want to control the glass. You know exactly what you�re getting from
Drummond and Willy is a lite version of the same thing which is why I think we
see Willy line up here and not Sabonis. He averaged 13 rebounds in the Round 1
series and is a staple for the Nuggets as a starter in some form, and that won�t
change. He won�t block as many shots as Drummond likely will though, but he
could try and help the glass battle. -
Advantage Portland for sure.
Drummond has been in the conversation as an MVP which sounds nuts, but he
anchored the team to winning weeks even when KD, LBJ and Harden were all out.
It�s not nuts to say he will have the most impact on the series. SF Projected: Lebron James Vs Michael
Porter Jnr. A lot of the time SF this year has been a
position filled by a sturdy defender allowing the guards to run rampant and the
bigs to clean up the guards duties. But both of these teams have not treated it
that way, instead being able to play guys that are key to the offence and
really go for an advantage. Lebron is Lebron. We all know what we�re
getting from Lebron by now and he�s still the man to have in your team boosting
the O and boosting the D while smashing guys out of the park on a nightly
basis. I don�t think he shifts from SF all series here and nor should he. He
has the advantage big time after averaging 24 a night in Round 1, and he should
probably improve on that for Round 2. Do the Nuggets have a Lebron stopper? The
short answer is, no. So, I think they just roll out Porter still. He doesn�t
handle too much which probably means the ball is protected from the elite defensive
side of Lebron, and he catch and shoots with size and high release so might
still get a chunk of his on O. He averaged 15/6/5 in Round 1, which was great
but he has his work cut out. -
It�s Lebron. Is there a
question? Portland stranglehold here. SG Projected: Kevin Durant Vs Klay
Thompson The SG position is where the firepower
starts to kick in 2k, and it�s where we see the bigger wings get moved down a
spot to utilise their size and impact the game even more. We see a mixed spread
from these teams in this regard to the position and it�ll be an interesting one
to follow. When you have a versatile PF like Durant
that is able to play down to the SG spot, you�ve really got an advantage. KD
averaged 24 a night in round 1 and with his size and handles, he�s going to
cause issues. This is the bonus you get from having an absolute elite talent. As far as genuine SG options go, Klay would
be one of the better match ups to combat a playing down KD. He�s a 6�7 shooting
guard with defensive chops and he�s back and healthy. He can shoot the lights
out, which might be more tricky with a tall defender like KD, but he�ll hassle
KD on the other end too. He averaged 19 in Round 1, so he�ll be instrumental. -
Can�t help give the advantage
to the Blazers here, of course. That size and skill down at the 2 is hard to
top. PG Projected: Josh Richardson Vs Steph
Curry The PG position is still god in 2k, well,
mostly, and being able to put a big 2 guard down there with handles as PG
skills is a god send after the position down thing got far too crazy and the limitations
saw the end of a lot of the even bigger guys moving down here. This one shows
the traditional PG V the hybrid and it�s going to be all about seeing if the
point god can break free. JRich was arguably an afterthought when he
came to Portland, at least to everyone else. Joel likely saw a 6�6 2 guard that
could line up nicely at PG as he�s played a bit of that in his career and he�s
slotted in as a starter for a lot of games this year. In short, he�s been
great. He has size, handles, can shoot and fills the unselfish role perfectly.
In Round 1, he averaged 14/2/5 which is his job in spades. Steph has been great this year as usual.
Not as great has he was a couple of years ago, but he�s still Steph. If you ask
Dig, he�s been a lot more great to start the year before things switched up in
2k and you can see the evidence of this. He still poured in 22 a night in Round
1 to get his team through and he can still light it up on a dime, so he�s going
to be a catalyst for the Nuggets chances. -
Steph is the advantage here.
The match up is going to be a nice one to watch though. JRich is the type you
want to have on a Steph cause of his size and perimeter D, and he might punish
Steph the other way a little too. But, it�s Steph. Bench Projections: Tristan Thompson, Caris LeVert, Joe
Ingles, Luke Kornet These benches are similar in make up, but
the Nuggets like to run 10 deep while the Blazers have been 9 all year. TT
coming in meant Reddish was dropped from the rotation and he�s a rebounding
machine so you see why. The bench bigs to the Blazers, but the 6th
man probably goes to Trent over Caris. It�ll be interesting to see if any bench
can give a true boost to the game. Keys to Victory: Blazers Nuggets Head to Head Prediction: Unlike the other West battle, this one just
seems like the match up from hell for the Nuggets. In all the areas the Nuggets
are weaker, the Blazers excel and they�re pretty good at countering the Nuggets
best aspects, too. I mean, it�s not really a stretch calling a sweep from a 70
win team, but in round 2 it feels harsh none the less. Blazers
to move on, 4-0. |
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