NBA Playoffs 2018-19: 3 Talking points from Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver Nuggets - Game 5
The 2nd seed Denver Nuggets enjoyed home court comforts in Game 5 of the highly entertaining NBA playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers.
In the Pepsi Center at Denver, the Nuggets got off to a blazing start and never looked back, blowing the Portland Trail Blazers out of the game, winning 124-98.
The Blazers looked lackluster tonight and thoroughly deserved to lose the match tonight. The series is now in the Nuggets favour at 3-2 with Game 6 at the Moda Center in Portland.
With these developments in mind, let us take a look at the 3 main talking points from Game 5 tonight.
#3 Struggles of Will Barton
Will Barton had become an integral part of the Denver Nuggets rotation last season and was coming in hot this season too.
An injury hampered his 2018-19 NBA season and he took a long time to return to the court. But he seems to have become worse for wear as he is just not the same player in the playoffs.
After establishing himself as a starter rather than a 6th man, he has been absolutely woeful for the Denver Nuggets, so much so that he was dropped to the bench in the playoffs.
Barton is averaging a lowly 9.3 points per game in over 23 minutes per match. He is shooting a abysmal 27% from beyond the arc and has a field goal percentage of just 33%.
He has been better since the switch to the second unit but his numbers have not improved much. He is also grabbing 5.2 rebounds per game.
Even though Barton was shooting just 34% percent from 3 in the regular season, he was not expected to get worse when the Nuggets need him the most. Hopefully he can find some of his form as soon as Game 6 and lead the Nuggets into the Western Conference Finals.