Down 14, Nuggets rally to eliminate Trail Blazers
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Denver Nuggets were undaunted, even when down 14 points in the third quarter and facing an antagonistic Portland crowd.
Nikola Jokic had 36 points and the Nuggets eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games with a 126-115 victory Thursday night.
“Nobody can take the fight out of us,” Jokic said. “We will just go out there and fight, and that’s what we have been doing. We’re never going to quit. ‘Quit’ is not in our vocabulary.”
Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points, including 22 in the opening quarter, for the thirdseeded Nuggets.
The Nuggets will face the Phoenix Suns, who elimiated the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Denver advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the third straight season.
Damian Lillard finished with 28 points and 13 assists for the sixth-seeded Blazers. They led by 14 points in the third quarter but couldn’t stave off elimination.
Monte Morris hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close Denver to 101-98 heading into the last period. Jokic hit a 3-pointer to put Denver ahead 108-106 and the Nuggets stretched it to 117-108 on Austin Rivers’ 3 with 3:52 left.
Portland tried to catch up, pulling to 121-115 on CJ McCollum’s layup, but Aaron Gordon hit a corner 3-pointer that all but sealed it for Denver with less than a minute to go.
“I think the key was when they were going on runs and we weren’t playing our best every huddle was positive, staying engaged, demanding guys to be better, but staying together,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
“I think we’ve shown as a group that every time we hit adversity, most times, we never run from it. We buckle down, we embrace it, we find a way.”
Portland crumbled in the final quarter, outscored 28-14. “We didn’t do what was necessary to win the series,” Lillard said. “We’ve got to keep fighting, keep working and keep coming back to battle. Regardless of how it ended, we are always going to have our heads held high, have class. They won, congratulations to them, but it’s back to the drawing board to us.”
The Nuggets took a 3-2 lead in the series with a 147-140 double overtime victory in Denver on Tuesday night. It spoiled Lillard’s epic playoff performance: He had 55 points, including 12 3-pointers, and 10 assists. It was the most 3-pointers ever in a playoff game.