Wow. A lot has happened since I was in the house for Tuesday's game against Portland. Let's get to it.

1. I've developed this uncanny habit for showing up at The Can and getting to my seat just before tip-off. It doesn't matter what time I leave my house, how bad traffic is or how long it takes me to find a place to park. I find it kind of humorous, but then I also miss stuff like Bradley Chubb airballing a free throw before the game. Probably something I should work on.
2. My buddy who went with me hadn't been to the Pepsi Center for a little bit and also thought the new cup holders were a poor design. It's not just me, people!
3. Did someone wind the clock back a year before this game started? The Nuggets had a dominant first quarter offensively and pretty much controlled the action from beginning to end. I haven't seen the good guys hit this level of efficiency very often since last season.
4. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It was also great to see Jamal Murray not only back in the lineup, but back playing like the guy that can create a lethal 1-2 punch with Nikola Jokic. He looked good shooting the ball and some of his teammates for a few easy buckets, including Jerami Grant.
5. Given how things turned out, I'm glad that there was such a heavy dose of Juancho and Malik in this game. When they're on, those guys are fun to watch and they gave me some pretty cool memories during my first two years as a season-ticket holder. Juancho's shimmy and Malik's 35 points against Houston last season are burned into my brain. I don't think fans in the arena had any idea that the trade was going down. I certainly didn't until I got home and hopped on Twitter. It's wild how quickly things can change in this league.
6. The fans seemed to take it fairly easy on Carmelo in this one. That is, until he knocked over Jamal Murray on a foul. They probably would've booed anyway, but Melo helped him up afterward and Jamal didn't seem upset about it.
7. There was a decent amount of Portland fans in attendance, but their team didn't give them much to cheer about. Portland was thoroughly shellacked and couldn't seem to get any of their stars going. Lillard and McCollum got their points, as they usually do, and yet I never felt the momentum shift the other way.It was a remarkable defensive performance by the Nuggets.
8. I wish that I had more to report, but it's hard to focus on anything other than the trade. Overall it looks like the Nuggets made a pretty move to get something for Juancho and Malik before they lost them for nothing this summer. That doesn't mean it wasn't a little disappointing to hear that they were gone. After watching these guys play so much in person, I can't help but appreciate them more. That's on top of the fact that they both seem like good dudes. Juancho in particular had a lot of fun cheering on his teammates from the bench, even when he was riding the bench almost every game. I respect both of those guys and wish them well (just not when they play the Nuggets).