Nuggets on verge of Western Finals trip
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DENVER — Paul Millsap is showing the young’uns how it’s done.
Millsap scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half Tuesday night, sparking Denver’s 124-98 blowout of the Portland Trail Blazers that put the Nuggets on the verge of their first trip to the Western Conference finals in a decade.
The 34-year-old forward with nearly 100 games of playoff experience has injected some savvy into a series dominated by youth and emerging stars.
“It’s not his first time, you know? He’s been here before,” Jamal Murray said. “He’s showing everybody the ropes. … He does all the little things that can help us win games and sets the tone for us.”
Millsap is averaging 19 points and 9.6 boards in the best-of-seven series that the Nuggets lead 3-2 with Game 6 coming up Thursday night in Portland.
Gary Harris called Millsap “that calming factor” for a team making its first playoff appearance in six seasons. “He’s been huge for us this series. He’s been bringing it offensively, defensively and he helped us get off to a great start today.”
After Millsap got the Nuggets going with a dozen first-quarter points, Nikola Jokic took over from there, scoring 25 points and pulling down 19 rebounds, tying a team NBA playoff high. Murray added 18 points to go with nine assists and zero turnovers.
Damian Lillard, who led Portland with 22 points, said it’s exhausting facing the waves of young sharpshooters the Nuggets send at you, starting with the fulcrum of Jokic and Murray running the pickand-roll.
“And then when all else fails, you’ve got to guard Millsap,” Lillard lamented. “He’s a handful for guys to guard because he’s in the paint, he’s making face-up jumpers, he’s making 3s. In transition, you’ve got to find him, and then he’s a monster on the glass.”
Leaning on Millsap’s experience and wellrounded game, he said, “is just something they can always go to, something they can always count on. So, it’s tough to deal with.”
Millsap helped the Nuggets turn in the first
showed that Jacobs could not overcome the lead that Alvarez built up early as all the judges had him winning at least 4 of the first 5 rounds.
CANELO. Alvarez (52-1, 35KOs) is still at his prime at 28 years of age. He has faced the best in his division and I would say is now a complete multidimensional fighter.
He has a great chin and his defense has improved a lot as well. His upper body movement, all that weaving and bobbing, had Jacobs hitting nothing but thin air.
VERBATIM. “I know it was back and forth action, but for me early on it was hard to get the rhythm of Canelo. Once I got the rhythm I thought I started to push him back and it became a really competitive fight.” -Daniel Jacobs (www.nypost.com)