Anfernee Simons Went Nuts With Six Consecutive Threes In The Third Quarter Against Denver

After the Celtics and Jazz lost in the early slate on Monday, the Blazers were one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NBA when they got going at home against the Nuggets.

Denver took control early and maintained a six-point lead going into halftime, but found themselves suddenly down by 13 after the third quarter thanks to an absolute onslaught from Anfernee Simons and the Blazers offense. Portland out-scored Denver 44-25 in the third quarter, with Simons contributing 22 of those points as he made his first eight shots of the quarter, including six threes in a row that had the Moda Center crowd in a frenzy.

Simons started with a layup and a pull-up from the deep midrange, but once he knocked down his first three from way outside, there was simply no stopping him.

By the end, he was knocking down hilarious contested looks as the Nuggets couldn’t do anything to bother his shooting rhythm, as he came flying around screens and pulled up from just about anywhere inside halfcourt.

It was the kind of shooting streak we’ve come to expect from Damian Lillard, but Simons showed he keeps that thang on him too — and also why the Blazers were willing to trade CJ McCollum to open the door for Simons to take the starting role alongside Lillard. Portland’s 3-0 start has been one of the surprises of the first week of the season, but if Simons can start putting up big outings alongside Dame with the attention he commands, they’re going to be a handful night in and night out.