Christian Braun Talks About Lack of Effort in Loss to Trail Blazers

On Monday night, the Denver Nuggets were defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers 118-110. The Nuggets started off fast in this game as they outscored the Trail Blazers 31-19 in the first quarter, but things went downhill from there. 

Portland was led by star player Deni Avdija, who finished the game with 28 points, with nine of those being in the fourth quarter. Portland continues its hot start to the season with a 5-1 record, while the Nuggets are back at .500 at 3-3. 

After the game, Nuggets guard Christian Braun spoke to the media about what went wrong in this matchup and how effort played a role in Denver’s loss. 

“I think rebounding is a big part of it, there’s a lot that goes into it,” Braun said. “I got to be better with my energy I got to get the guys rolling a little bit, and then I got to chase down a 50/50 ball every once in a while.”

Braun finished this game with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field in 37 minutes. Individually, he’s had a solid start to the season, but he may need to elevate his production if this team wants to take that next step to being championship contenders. 

In this game, Denver was out-rebounded by Portland, 53-37. Nikola Jokic led the way in that department with nine, but nobody else was able to set the tone on the glass. Moving forward, this has to be an area that the coaching staff has to emphasize. 

The Nuggets are a veteran team, but it’s clear they could use some help from younger pieces. One young player who is looking to gradually make a difference this season is rookie forward Trevon Brazile. 

He finished with 6 points off the bench on 3-for-3 shooting, and his athleticism could help this team down the stretch into the postseason. 

If effort continues to be something that is causing problems within this roster, this front office may look to make changes and potentially get younger. 

Denver came into this season hoping to get back to being one of the top teams in the NBA after an injury-riddled 2025-2026 season, and so far, they have yet to stand out in a loaded Western Conference. 

It will be interesting to see how the Nuggets will be able to adapt to what’s in front of them and if they can make a run at some point this season.