The NBA playoffs are in full swing and there can be a lot to unpack in a series of intense games, to help out we will give you the three things you need to know from the last 24 hours in the NBA.
1. In a weird game in which Denver couldn't buy a bucket, Portland escapes with a win to tie series 1-1
Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic summed it up well.
"It was a weird game for us. They didn't even play that good to be honest. They can play better than that, so it was kind of a weird game," Jokic said after the Blazers' 97-90 win in Game 2.
Weird in that Denver just could not buy a bucket. Not just weird in the Nuggets shooting 6-of-29 (20.7%) from 3 and going 0 for 10 in the second quarter. Rather, weird as in Denver grabbing 23 offensive rebounds (38.6% of their missed shots) but shooting just 6-of-17 on putback attempts. Weird in that Nuggets guards Jamal Murray and Gary Harris were 2-for-13 from 3 and combined to shoot 33.3% overall on the night. Weird in that the Nuggets shot 14-of-45 (31.1%) on uncontested shots (via NBA.com). Weird in that Portland had an offensive rating of just 102.1 for the game, but that was enough to have them comfortably ahead most of the night as Denver scored less than a point per possession.
Weird, physical, whatever you want to call it, the Trail Blazers will take it. Portland was the more aggressive team, earned the win, and evened the series at 1-1 heading back to Portland for Game 3.
The game certainly was physical. Nobody got that worse than Denver’s Torry Craig, who suffered a "nasal contusion" when diving for a loose rebound and his face hit the back of teammate Monte Morris’ leg. Craig returned to play with a mask (something he had fitted back in the preseason), and he ended up on the ground late in the game, which sparked a confrontation.
It was a weird game in that Portland’s Enes Kanter may have had a better game than Jokic. At least he did in terms of what their respective teams need out of them. Jokic had 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting, he had seven assists (he assisted on 38.9% of his teammate’s buckets when on the court, still an impressive percentage), but would have had a lot more if guys had just made shots. Jokic was still making passes like this.
Kanter had 15 points on 10-of-15 shooting and played solid, physical defense down low with Jokic. Kanter came into these playoffs with the Billy Donovan "can’t play Kanter" reputation because of his pick-and-roll defense and what happened to him in previous playoffs, but give the man credit, he has stepped up and performed well in the absence of Jusuf Nurkic this postseason.
CJ McCollum had 20 points, six assists and six rebounds for Portland, even if it took 20 shots to get there.
This game felt like a one-off for the series. There were adjustments, but both teams struggled so much just to make shots they usually hit that it’s tough to tell what worked and what didn’t. Denver needs to attack earlier when the 3s aren’t falling, but aside from that, that this was more about missed opportunities than anything else.
Portland does not care. It's a win. The series is tied and the Trail Blazers are heading home.
Series schedule
Best-of-7 series tied 1-1; all times Pacific; x=if necessary
Denver Nuggets vs. Portland Trail Blazers
- Game 1 (at DEN): Nuggets 121, Trail Blazers 113 (box score)
- Game 2 (at DEN): Trail Blazers 97, Nuggets 90 (box score)
- Game 3 (at POR): Friday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
- Game 4 (at POR): Sunday, May 5, 4 p.m., TNT
- x-Game 5 (at DEN): Tuesday, May 7, time TBD, TNT
- x-Game 6 (at POR): Thursday, May 9, time TBD, ESPN
- x-Game 7 (at DEN): Sunday, May 12, time TBD, TV TBD
3-on-3 Blazers podcast
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