With the Portland up three points and with the shot clock turned off, all the Trailblazers really needed to do was get the ball inbounds and let the Nuggets foul them. The exact opposite happened.
The first mistake committed by the Blazers is that they entered the ball into the corner. The Denver Nuggets weren’t fouling right away (the last possession the ball got entered to Wes Matthews and the Nuggets trapped him, forcing the Blazers to call a timeout). I know Miller wasn’t the first option, but I would much rather see the Blazers get the ball LaMarcus Aldridge (who was flashing to the basketball) or toss it in the backcourt (that is legal now).
After Miller gets it in the corner, he does the correct thing by dribbling out of the corner (to prevent from being trapped) and he throws a pass to LaMarcus Aldridge right under the rim. Aldridge then makes the biggest gaffe out of everyone by attempting a shot. The shot clock was turned off, so the Blazers weren’t forced to take a shot. Aldridge could have simply turned around and kicked it out to a teammate so they could continue to play keep away, or he could have dribbled it back outside himself.
Instead, Aldridge decided to take the shot and miss it, giving the Nuggets a chance to tie the game. Luckily, Chauncey Billups took a terrible shot himself.
