With their backs against the wall the Blazers pulled off a big win on Thursday night. Facing elimination in their best of seven series against the Denver Nuggets, it was do or die for the Blazers, and they chose “do”. Damian Lillard and CJ Mccollum brought their “A” games, combining for 62 points, but it was Rodney Hood who saved the day, shooting an impressive 8-12 from the field and pouring in a crucial 25 points off the bench. Zach Collins came on strong for the Blazers as well, scoring 14 and notching five big-time blocks. Tensions grew high in the fourth quarter as a scuffle broke out and the refs issued four technical fouls. The crowd was on fire all night, willing their team to the stupendous 108-119 victory. The winner-take-all final game will be held in Denver on Sunday.
The Moda Center was filled with an air of nervousness before the game. Would this be the last of the season? Were fans gathering to say farewell, or the cheer on essential victory? The Blazers seemed to share these feelings of apprehension at the outset, missing easy shots and committing silly fouls in the early minutes of the game. The Nuggets, on the other hand, came in locked and loaded, looking every bit like the team that had picked apart the Blazers in game five. Al-Farouq Aminu started off guarding Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic and quickly seemed overwhelmed. The Nuggets jumped out to an eight point lead by the the end of the first quarter. Was it going to be a long night?
But then the Blazers second unit kicked into gear to start the second quarter. The Nuggets struggled to contain Rodney Hood as he picked apart the defense and hit shots from all over the floor. Zach Collins was brought in to cover Jokic and began giving him trouble with his long arms and impeccable timing on shot blocks. With about four minutes left in the first half the Blazers took the lead off a long Damian Lillard three pointer and the crowd went wild. The once confident Nuggets appeared to look shaken. The Blazers led 58-54 at the half.
Let’s have a look at some of the fan action in the hallways during the break, shall we?
This woman’s shirt references a wildly popular tweet by Blazer guard CJ McCollum:
Look, it’s Nikola Jokic’s brother! Seriously, that’s his brother, who apparently travels with him everywhere.
New School/Old School:
And hey, it’s NBA superfan, Jimmy Goldstien. You know it’s big game when he shows up. Read more about this interesting guy here..
Blazer spirit on display…
And a Rip City Couple with one on the way!
Okay, so back to the action. The third quarter saw the Nuggets claw back in it and tie the game. They weren’t going to go down easily, but at last the balls appeared to be bouncing the Blazers way. So often in this series it seemed like the Blazers couldn’t catch a break, but on this night their shots were falling while the Nuggets seemed to have to work double for each bucket. Jamal Murray had his usual great game, but his surrounding players, including Jokic, found themselves on the wrong side of several foul calls which led to frustration on the Nuggets bench. The score was 87-80 after three quarters.
Coach Stotts rode the hot hands of Hood and Collins by playing them all through the fourth quarter. The Blazer bench came up big on this night, outscoring the Nugget’s reserves 40-11. Midway through the final period Nikola Jokic was assessed an offensive foul, his fifth, and tempers boiled over. Will Barton pushed Seth Curry and a brief scrum broke out. The refs issued four technical fouls, two on Portland and two on Denver. It appeared that Barton poked Curry in the eye and could perhaps receive additional disciplinary actions. This could be a significant factor in game seven should Barton or Curry face suspension.
Anyway, the game proceeded in Portland’s favor as they rode crowd spirit and solid play to the final buzzer. You knew things were going Portland’s way when CJ McCollum began hitting shots like this:
HOW @CJMCCOLLUM pic.twitter.com/WBNBMJRqY2
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 10, 2019
So now it goes down to one final game, Rip City. Game time is still TBD as it depends on whether Golden State and Houston hold a game seven of their own. If Golden State wins out tonight and their is no game seven, Portland and Denver play at 12:30 PST. If Houston wins tonight and they do have a game seven, then Portland and Denver play at 6:30 PST. Either way, this game on Sunday is the biggest of the season for our Blazers. If they win, the go on to the Western conference finals for the first time in 19 years. Bring it on, Portland. Let’s keep this season going!
Blazer game highlights, worth watching:
Our first Game 7 since 2003 🎥 pic.twitter.com/hvKt9RFhiN
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 10, 2019