----- Damian Lillard scored 34 points and dished out a playoff career-high 13 assists as the Portland Trail Blazers hammered Denver 123-109 in game one Saturday night at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Rocky mountain high for the Trail Blazers!
Damian Lillard scored a team-high 34 points and dished out a playoff career-high 13 assists as the Portland Trail Blazers take game one in Denver 123-109.
The Blazers scorched the nets connecting on 19-of-40 from three-point range.
CJ McCollum added 21 points and Carmelo Anthony and Anfernee Simons combined for 32 points off-the-bench.
Going up against his former team in the playoffs, Jusuf Nurkic made his presence felt on both ends of the floor. He finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.
The Blazers thrived with great ball movement in game one finishing with 29 assists and just six turnovers.
“I think we've had a history of being predictable -- and the ball moving sometimes and then sometimes it doesn't,” Lillard said. “But I think when we've been playing our best basketball, the ball has been moving around, we've been trusting each other. Hitting the roller, hitting the weak side, swinging it, making the extra pass. We've been making the extra pass a lot.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 34 points and 16 rebounds and Michael Porter Jr. added 25 points and nine rebounds.
The Nuggets started quick taking a 61-58 halftime lead and started the third quarter on a 10-4 run extending their lead to 71-62.
The Blazers then took over the game closing the period on a 36-15 run taking a 96-86 lead into the fourth quarter. The Nuggets closed the deficit to four points twice but could never regain the advantage with Portland controlling the final five minutes.
Up Next- Trail Blazers and Nuggets will play game two Monday night at Ball Arena in Denver. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Nuggets going to have a hard time trying to solve the Blazers three-guard lineup.