The Portland Trail Blazers started five rookies for the second time in history since the tracking of starters began in NBA box scores over 50 years ago.
Both the Trail Blazers and the Nuggets were facing challenges due to missing key players like Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe, Malcolm Brogdon, Nikola Jokic, and Jamal Murray.