Damian Lillard scored a game-high 42 points, but it wasn't enough as Nikola Jokic helped the Denver Nuggets level the series against the Portland Trail Blazers. The playoffs continue with the Lakers at the Suns live on Sky Sports from 3am in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Tuesday 25 May 2021 07:24, UK
Nikola Jokic scored 38 points, Michael Porter Jr. had 18 and the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-109 in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
The Nuggets evened the best-of-seven series 1-1 with help from Paul Millsap (15 points), Aaron Gordon (13), Monte Morris (12) and Facundo Campazzo (12), with Game 3 scheduled for Thursday night in Portland.
Damian Lillard scored 22 of his game-high 42 points in the second quarter and added 10 assists for the Trail Blazers who also got 21 points from CJ McCollum, 15 from Norman Powell and 13 rebounds from Jusuf Nurkic.
It was a testy game that featured four technical fouls and two flagrant fouls. Denver led by 12 at halftime and stretched the margin to 81-66 on a basket by Campazzo. The Trail Blazers got within 10, but the Nuggets scored seven straight to lead 91-74.
The hosts then pushed the gap to 20 on a 3-pointer by Gordon late in the third, but the Trail Blazers hit two from deep in the final 30 seconds to get within 101-87 heading into the final quarter.
Portland further cut into the deficit to claw within 11 early in the fourth before Denver pulled away. Millsap hit two free throws and a layup, Porter drained a 3-pointer and then had a steal that led to a dunk for Shaquille Harrison during an 11-2 run that made it 114-94 with 7:41 left.
The Trail Blazers scored the next four points, but the Nuggets came right back and went ahead by 21 on a 3-pointer by Campazzo. Portland emptied its bench with 3:36 left.
The Nuggets had led by six after the first quarter and opened up an 18-point lead early in the second, but Lillard brought the Trail Blazers back on his own.
He hit four of his eight first-half 3-pointers in three-and-a-half minutes to cut the deficit to 65-61. Denver scored the last eight points of the quarter to lead 73-61 at the break.
