Nuggets survive double-overtime thriller vs. Blazers, stake 3-2 series lead
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As clutch as Damian Lillard was on Tuesday night, he only delayed the celebration.
The Nuggets survived a gripping double-overtime affair, 147-140, to stake a 3-2 series lead with a chance to close their first-round battle Thursday in Portland.
To be sure, Lillard will be waiting. The Blazers flamethrower poured in 55 points, including 12-of-17 from the 3-point line and tying treys near the end of regulation and the first overtime, but it wasn’t enough.
“We won and lost that game so many times,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “The thing I’m most proud about though is, every time they extended the game, we never hung our heads.”
Nuggets’ center Nikola Jokic and Lillard traded haymakers all night, but when it came to the deciding bucket, Joker’s sidekick, Michael Porter Jr., rose to the occasion. Jokic found Porter in the corner for 3 with 1:33 remaining to break a 140-140 tie. The Nuggets didn’t let Lillard’s devastating heroics happen a third time — thanks in part to C.J. McCollum inadvertently stepping out of bounds with the Blazers down three and 10.2 seconds left in the second OT.
Jokic had a team-high 38 points on 14-of-31 shooting. He flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 11 rebounds and nine assists. By the end, Jokic’s legs were all-but gone. That’s where all of Porter’s 26 points were invaluable, as were Monte Morris’ 28. Morris played 41 minutes off the bench, added four 3-pointers and knocked down 10-of-11 free throws.
After Lillard’s gutsy 3-pointer sent Game 5 to overtime, the Nuggets returned the favor with a flood of 3s themselves. Morris hit two, Austin Rivers drained one, and the Nuggets appeared a few minutes from seizing control of the series. But a series of miscues, including a blown layup and a missed free throw from Morris, kept the door ajar for Dame Time.
This time, Lillard hit a second stepback 3-pointer to send the game to double-overtime.
It seemed like Tuesday’s result was all-but wrapped up before Lillard’s seismic 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds left in regulation flipped the game on its head. Up 121-118 with 9.8 seconds left, the Blazers got the benefit of a questionable foul on Rivers after a Nuggets coaching challenge. Lillard took advantage. His 3-pointer in Porter’s grill sent the game to the first extra session.
Late in the fourth, Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic lost his mind. He picked up back-to-back fouls on consecutive plays, leaving the Blazers with no one to stop the NBA’s presumptive MVP. And Jokic made them pay.
Jokic bullied Portland forward Robert Covington over the final three minutes, dragging his blue-collar boys to the verge of victory. But Lillard wouldn’t quit.
The Nuggets’ bench unit more than did their job. While Jokic watched the first six minutes of the fourth quarter from the bench, Morris and JaMychal Green seized momentum. Morris drained a 3-pointer less than two minutes in to put the Nuggets up 97-96. A few minutes later, Green sent Ball Arena into a frenzy with a corner 3-pointer. Their energy – and fearlessness – kept it even until Jokic returned.
The animosity of two teams too familiar with each other simmered to start the third quarter. Norman Powell took exception to the blanket defense of Facundo Campazzo. Both drew technical fouls within the first 30 seconds. After a parade of whistles, Jokic baited Jusuf Nurkic into an offensive foul that forced Portland’s center to the bench. With Enes Kanter defending the hoop, the Nuggets attacked the paint incessantly.
They scored on second-chance points and aggressive drives, exposing Portland’s lack of interior depth. Jokic would’ve been the focal point regardless of who was in, but the Nuggets relied on him even moreso given the circumstance. But the Lillard train kept rolling. He stared down Rivers and shimmied to create space, burying one of two devastating 3-pointers in the quarter. By the end of the third, the Blazers had a razor-thin 94-92 lead and were one quarter from a win.
Malone was eager to see whether his team had learned their lesson from Game 4 and would open Tuesday as the aggressor.
“It’ll be telling early in this game to see where is our urgency, where is our intensity, where is our aggressiveness, where is our attack mentality, where is our physicality,” Malone said. “That should be on full display from the jump ball, and we have to try to sustain that for as close to 48 minutes as possible.”
For most of the first half, the Nuggets were in the driver’s seat. They were diving for loose balls, winning the second-chance opportunities and flexing after each physical finish inside. The Nuggets were up 54-32 with 7:52 left in the second quarter. From there, the bottom fell out. It began in transition, then led to careless fouls, and when they looked up again, Lillard’s flame had been lit.
He, Powell and McCollum spearheaded a 30-11 run that sawed into Denver’s lead and sent them into the break up just 65-62.
Portland’s surge spoiled what had been a rollicking first half. Porter drained 14 first-half points, seemingly recognizing his size advantage over whichever Blazer tried to check him. And Jokic and Rivers registered 10 points each, while two-way guard Markus Howard buried three 3-pointers off the bench.
The Nuggets shot 10-of-22 from 3-point range in the first half – and number that should’ve foreshadowed a double-digit lead. Yet Portland’s 37-point second quarter undid all the good work Denver’s starters had built to open the game. Instead of slamming the door shut, their lackluster close to the half left it open for a comeback.