The Blazers battled the Nuggets down to the wire on Sunday evening, but couldn’t pull it out in the end. It was a a tough loss after the euphoria of game three and its wild quadruple overtime finish. With the victory, the Nuggets snapped the Blazers’ 12 game home court winning streak, and evened up this seven game playoff series 2-2, with the next game to be played in Denver on Tuesday night. Jamal Murray of Denver led all scorers with 34 points while Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum had 28 and 29 respectively. The final score was 116-112.
All players seemed a bit stiff after their long night on Friday, but it was Denver who came out with more hustle. They grabbed an early lead as they fed the ball through their star player, 7-foot, 300 pound center Nikola Jokic. The crowd booed loudly each time Jokic touched the ball, a new development largely spurred on by this tweet from Blazer center Enes Kanter after game three:
Take a freaking look at this please @OfficialNBARefs @NBAOfficial pic.twitter.com/pBtR51ycLi
— Enes Kanter (@Enes_Kanter) May 4, 2019
Booing aside, Jokic played slow and steady as he and Jamal Murray worked an impressive two man attack. Toward the end of the first quarter cheers rose up from the crowd as Jusuf Nurkic strolled in and took a seat on the Blazer bench. Nukic’s appearance once again sparked some life into the Blazers and they closed the gap, eventually taking the lead on a Damian Lillard four-point play. Nurkic was honored with the Maurice Lucas award between the first and second quarters and the whole arena took to chanting his name. The big fellow seemed to get a little choked up at this, and appeared to be moving pretty well, by the way, without crutches.
The second quarter saw the Nuggets regain the lead and fans began to wonder if we were in for another crazy back and forth contest between these two evenly matched teams. The Blazer’s second unit came to the rescue this time behind some hustle plays by second year center Zach Collins and some very hot shooting by Seth Curry. At one point Curry hit three three-pointers in a row, driving the crowd into a frenzy. Curry sunk one more three pointer right at the half-time buzzer to tie a franchise record for most triples hit in one quarter during the playoffs. He finished the half with a remarkable 16 points, but would that fantastic play continue after the break? The Blazers led at halftime 57-63.
Here’s our visual survey of the various fan outfits seen wandering the hallways during the break:
The guy on the the left said he’d been to every Blazer playoff game since 1997:
Starting their kid young:
Denver came out strong at the start of the third, playing like a team fighting for their lives, which, in effect, they were. A Blazer win on this night would have all but put away the series. Perhaps the Blazers knew in the back of their minds that they didn’t have to win this game. I mean, it would have been very nice, and it could have made their lives easier, but the fact is there remained a viable pathway to victory for the Blazers in this series even if they lost this game. The same could not have been said for Denver. Very few teams have ever overcome a 3-1 playoff deficit. Sadly for the Blazers, they came out flat after the half, scoring only 14 points in the third quarter. Seth Curry, who had been so hot right before halftime, never scored again in this game.
Despite their dud of a third quarter, the Blazers rallied for a comeback late in the fourth, closing the gap to only one point with 3:10 remaining in the game. Fans buckled in for what looked to be another high adrenaline finish. But the Nuggets held their composure this time. Former Blazer Will Barton knocked down two huge three pointers in those final minutes and despite keeping it close, the Blazers couldn’t climb back on top. Lillard uncharacteristically missed a crucial free-throw in the final minute and a CJ McCollum three pointer got downgraded to a two-point shot when it was revealed his toe was touching the line.
The crowd did not take kindly to several of the closer calls and the familiar chants of “Refs, You Suck!” filled the air on multiple occasions. It’s worth noting that the head referee was none other than Scott Foster, also known to Blazer fans as Satan, because he so often appears to shade calls away from the Blazers. For what it’s worth, the officiating was equally questionable for both sides, and the Blazers would be better off focusing their energy on getting control of the offensive boards, where they’ve been furiously out rebounded the entire series.
With the loss of game four, Blazers fans are now assured that there will be at least one more game back at the Moda center this season. These two teams face off in Denver on Tuesday, in a crucial game five, and then return to Portland for game six on Thursday. The series is now very much up for grabs, with a slight edge going to the Nuggets, who now have home court advantage should the series get decided by a seventh and final game.
Afterward Damian Lillard appeared calm and even somewhat upbeat about his team’s chances. “We know we’re capable of winning on their home floor, so that’s what we’ve got to go get done,” he said.