JOKIC LIFTS NUGGETS IN GAME 1
Nikola Jokic explodes for 37 points to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals
THE Denver Nuggets avoided both an emotional letdown and another Damian Lillard masterpiece.
Forty-eight hours after dispatching the Spurs in their first Game 7 triumph in 41 years, the Nuggets rode a 37-point performance from Nikola Jokic to a 121-113 win over the well-rested Portland Trail Blazers in the opener of their second-round series Monday night.
Lillard, who struck for 50 points, including a 37-footer at the buzzer to oust Oklahoma City in five games, scored two more points than Jokic. But he had a half-dozen turnovers, missed 8 of 12 3-point attempts and Gary Harris blocked his shot from behind in the closing minute to keep the Trail Blazers from closing in.
“We just made him uncomfortable,” said Jamal Murray, who added 23 points and eight assists for Denver to go with just one turnover.
Despite logging 41½ minutes after playing 43½ two nights earlier, Jokic continued his playoff coming-out party by dominating once more. He made 11 of 18 shots and all 12 of his free throws to go with nine boards and a half dozen assists.
“He’s a sponge,” Paul Millsap said. “He picks it up. He sees how people are playing him and guarding him and he makes the right play every time. That’s what’s great about him — he doesn’t force anything. Everything is going to be the right play. He’s going to make the right reads. He’s like a quarterback out there.
“I consider him like a Tom Brady — he’s always going to pick you apart and make the right reads. Commend him for doing that at this stage in his career. It’s unbelievable.”
Denver coach Michael Malone was more concerned about his team’s emotional state than his players’ physical state after a hardfought series with San Antonio while the Blazers, making their sixth straight playoff appearance, were enjoying nearly a week off.
“Saturday night, an emotional high, winning a Game 7, that was part of my biggest concern about tonight,” Malone said. “Obviously you’re worried about guarding them but how would we react from that emotional hangover? I thought our guys did a pretty good job.”
Game 2 is Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets were coming off a 90-86 win over San Antonio 48 hours earlier, their first Game 7 victory since May 3, 1978, against Milwaukee.
That, said Jokic, was “a really good game for us. It’s Game 7 against an experienced team and I think the level of physicality, the level of pace was at a really, really high level that night. It was a really tough game for us to win and we won it. It gave us an example of how we need to play.”
That’s exactly the kind of mettle Malone was looking for from his team, the youngest in the West.
The Trail Blazers got a boost from Enes Kanter, who separated his left shoulder in Game 5 against the Thunder. He scored 26 points in his return to the lineup.
“Enes was terrific, very efficient, finished around the basket playing through the shoulder injury,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “I couldn’t have asked any more of him.”
The game was marred by 30 turnovers, but the Blazers turned 12 takeaways to just six points while the Nuggets turned Portland’s 18 turnovers into 23 points.
“I think today’s game was really sloppy,” Jokic said. “There wasn’t much defense.” /