Blazers vs. Nuggets: Game 6 preview and how to watch

NBA PLAYOFFS, SECOND ROUND, GAME 6

Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets

Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

Time: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. PT

TV: ESPN

Radio: Rip City Radio 620 AM

Odds: Blazers favored by 3.5, over/under set at 215.5

Live updates

Tap here to see a live box score and stats once the game begins

By the numbers

Harkless ailing? After a solid first-round performance against the Thunder, Maurice Harkless has struggled against the Nuggets. He hurt his ankle in Game 2, and deserves a lot of credit for playing 45 minutes on a bad ankle in the quadruple-overtime Game 3 win. He was great in that game with 15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. But he hasn't looked right since. Since Game 3, Harkless is averaging 4.5 points in 15 minutes per game. His defense has slipped, too, probably because of his ankle. In the past two games, Denver Nuggets players have scored 27 points on 62.5% shooting from the field and 66.7% from the 3-point line with Harkless as the primary defender.

More Collins? Zach Collins is averaging 8.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 19.2 minutes per game in this series. He's been good in these playoffs, averaging 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per 36 minutes, while shooting 56% from the field and 78% from the free-throw line. Collins has the highest plus-minus on the team for the series at plus-12. He's also averaging 7.7 fouls per 36 minutes, which is probably the reason he's not playing more. If Collins could limit his fouls to stay on the court longer, it could really benefit the Blazers. If you look at the lineup data from this series, it's pretty ugly. A lot of negative net ratings for the Blazers. But looking at two-man units, Collins' positive impact is noticeable. In fact, the Blazers' net rating is positive in every two-man pairing that includes Collins in this series.

TWO-MAIN PAIRINGS WITH ZACH COLLINS

• Evan Turner-Zach Collins: +10.7 (57 minutes)
• Damian Lillard-Zach Collins: +8.8 (49 minutes)
• Enes Kanter-Zach Collins: +7.3 (21 minutes)
• CJ McCollum-Zach Collins: +6.6 (54 minutes)
• Meyers Leonard-Zach Collins: +4.5 (21 minutes)
• Al-Farouq Aminu-Zach Collins: +3.2 (14 minutes)
• Rodney Hood-Zach Collins: +3.0 (85 minutes)
• Seth Curry-Zach Collins: +3.0 (79 minutes)

Missing open shots: One reason the Blazers are trailing the Nuggets 3-2 in this second-round series is their inability to hit open shots. Portland is shooting 33.3% on open 3-point attempts (no defender closer than 4 feet) in this series, according to NBA Advanced Stats, after shooting 36.8% on open 3-pointers during the regular season. Denver is shooting 37.1% on open 3-pointers in this series, after shooting 35.9% on those shots in the regular season. The difference has been magnified the past two games. In Games 4 and 5, the Blazers shot 29.1% on open 3-pointers, while the Nuggets shot 42.5% on those shots.

Series at a glance

Denver leads best-of-7 series 3-2; all times Pacific; x=if necessary

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (3) Portland Trail Blazers

Game 1 (at DEN): Nuggets 121, Trail Blazers 113 (box score)

• Lillard scores 39 but Blazers come up short in Game 1
• Reporter notebook: Jokic outduels Lillard in Game 1 loss
• Blazers flying lifelong fan from NY to Portland for Game 3

Game 2 (at DEN): Trail Blazers 97, Nuggets 90 (box score)

• 'A tough group effort:' Blazers beat Nuggets 97-90 to even series 1-1
• 3-on-3 Blazers: Portland steals home court from Denver
• Blazers coaches wear bow ties to honor coach injured in SUV crash
• Jokic after Blazers' Game 2 win: 'They didn't even play that good'
• Report: No suspensions for players who left bench during Game 2 scrum

Game 3 (at POR): Blazers 140, Nuggets 137, 4OT (box score)

• Lifelong Blazers fan from NYC arrives in Portland for Game 3
• Instant classic: Blazers outlast Nuggets in four overtimes, 140-137
• Kanter's toughness shines through in Blazers 4OT win

Game 4 (at POR): Nuggets 116, Blazers 112 (box score)

• 'Disappointing': Blazers drop game 4 in back-and-forth series with Nuggets
• Reporters notebook: Nuggets beat Blazers 116-112 to even series at 2-2
• Lillard is misfiring from deep, and it's hurting the Blazers
• Kanter observing Ramadan fasting in midst of Blazers' playoff run

Game 5 (at DEN): Nuggets 124, Blazers 98 (box score)

• 'We are hurting now': Blazers, Nuggets react to Denver mass shooting
• Reporter notebook: Nuggets rout Blazers 124-98 in Game 5
• Believe in the Blazers. At least that's what my video game told me

Game 6 (at POR): Thursday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

x-Game 7 (at DEN): Sunday, time TBD, ESPN

Injury report

Nuggets: OUT: Michael Porter Jr. (lower back surgery)

Blazers: OUT: Jusuf Nurkic (left leg)

Live stream options

Stream on ESPN (requires subscription to TV provider); NBA playoff games can be streamed live with a subscription to the following services: Hulu + Live TV (does not include NBA TV), Playstation Vue (not all plans include NBA TV), DirecTV Now (not all plans include NBA TV), Sling TV (NBA TV is available as an add-on), fuboTV (does not include ESPN), and YouTube TV. The NBA won't be airing any playoff games live on NBA League Pass because all the games will air on national television, but subscribers will have access to the games in the NBA League Pass archive three hours after the games end (subscription required; local games and nationally televised games are blacked out).

3-on-3 Blazers podcast

LISTEN: 3-on-3 Blazers: Game 4 was tough but series is far from over

Listen to the most recent edition of the 3-on-3 Blazers podcast

• on Apple podcasts/iTunes
• on Podbean
• on SoundCloud
• on Stitcher
• on Google Play

Jared Cowley writes about the Trail Blazers and other topics for KGW.com. He's also the co-host of the 3-on-3 Blazers podcast (listen here). You can reach him on Twitter @jaredcowley.