J-Speaks: Two Destined Teams Meet In Western Conference Semifinals

It had been six seasons since the Denver Nuggets reached the postseason and a decade since they won a playoff series. The Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2019 Playoffs on a 10-game postseason losing streak, which consisted of their last two postseason’s ending in four-game sweeps. Both teams came into the playoffs with something to prove and they did so by winning their First-Round series in dramatic fashion. Now both squads meet for just the second time in their respective history with a chance to move one step closer reaching the Conference Finals. 

Besides having to shoulder their last two postseasons ending in four-game sweeps, the Portland Trail Blazers entered the 2019 Playoffs without their starting center Jusuf Nurkic and that starting shooting guard CJ McCollum had missed a 10-game stretch to close the regular-season because of strained muscle in his knee. Also, their opponent the Oklahoma City Thunder came in with the 2017 Kia MVP in Russell Westbrook and fellow All-Star Paul George looking to end their playoff drought of two straight opening-round knockouts. 

Head Coach Terry Stotts’s squad had their best player in four-time All-Star Damian Lillard and he just simply willed his team to a 4-1 series win over the Thunder advancing the Trail Blazers to the Semifinals on a game-clinching three-pointer from 37 fee out to give the Trail Blazers a dramatic 118-115 win as they outscored their visitors 28-10 to close the game. 

Lillard’s game-winning triple capped a night where he set two new franchise records with 50 points making 10 for 18 from three-point range, finishing 17 for 33 from the field overall with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. 

“Damian’s performance was probably the best performance I’ve seen in person, off the top of my head,” Coach Stotts said of the great performance by his All-Star lead guard, who averaged 36.3 points at home in the series against the Thunder. 

He added about his 34 points in the opening half, “I’ve seen 50-point games obviously. But the way he carried the team in the first half with CJ in foul trouble. The magnitude of the last shot, obviously to win a series. The fact that he’s now won two series on two shots. It was quite a performance.” 

The 2018 All-NBA First-Team selection did it all that night in helping the Trail Blazers advance to the Semifinals for the first time since 2016 and following his game-winning three he waived goodbye to the Thunder bench and then was suddenly mobbed by his teammates as he heard the chants of MVP from the Moda Center crowd. 

This moment was another shining example of the absolute greatness of Lillard in the postseason where he got the Trail Blazers pasted the opening-round, where they have not been able to get out of much in recent years. 

Five postseasons ago in the opening-round against the Houston Rockets, he hit a shot very similar shot from three-point range from the left side at the buzzer that clinched the Trail Blazers’ first playoff series win since the 2000 West Semis over the Utah Jazz in five games. 

That very well explains him being surprised at the reaction of those in attendance at the Moda Center to those that watched the game from sports bars and restaurants in Portland, OR when he hit that step-back heart-breaking triple to send the Thunder home for the summer. The mass hysteria caught Lillard off guard because he expected nothing else but for that shot to go down. 

Lillard said after digesting the reaction from his game-winning triple, “What if we win the Second-Round? What if we got to the Western Conference Finals?” 

“How are they going to react then? That was my mentality.” 

Throughout the series against the Thunder, Lillard repeatedly said that it is not about the other team—but about their team and them only. 

That if they do what they are supposed to do, the results will take care of itself. That is something the former Weber State product has preached, even the darkest of times during the regular-season from the passing of longtime owner Paul Allen before the start of the 2018-19 regular-season. When they lost as mentioned McCollum for 10 games down the stretch of this season because of knee injury and when they lost Nurkic in late March to a compound fracture in his left leg. 

Many teams would have crumbled under those tough moments. All the Trail Blazers did was simply continue to win, which they have done with including their five-game series win versus the Thunder improved to 11-3 since losing Nurkic. That includes an 8-2 mark when McCollum was out. 

That sparkling record is due in part to the rise in the level of play of now starting center Enes Kanter, Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, Seth Curry, Zach Collins, and Meyers Leonard. 

“I don’t think anybody in here is satisfied,” Harkless said recently. “We’re happy that we were able to take care of business in the First-Round, but we’re not satisfied. We know that we’ve got more work to do. We’re capable of doing more things this postseason.”

The Trail Blazers next opponent in the Denver Nuggets also feel they are destined to advance this postseason, especially after taking down the mighty San Antonio Spurs in seven games. 

For this entire season, the young Nuggets, who missed the playoffs by one game the last two years rose to the each and every moment and were able to reach the No. 2 Seed in the stacked Western Conference. 

The big question for head coach Michael Malone’s team coming into the series against the seasoned Spurs and their future Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich, and perennial All-Star tandem of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan could they overcome their inexperience. 

They did when it mattered in Game 7 on Saturday night thanks to their star tandem of Jamal Murray who had 23 points, including the game-ceiling floater 36.8 seconds left as the Nuggets held on for a 90-86 win to advance in the Playoffs for the first time since 2009. 

“Obviously, you’re extremely happy and proud of your guys,” Coach Malone said after the Nuggets first Game 7 postseason victory since May 3, 1978 when they defeated the Milwaukee Bucks. “You know to come so close the last two years and miss the playoffs by one game and to challenge every player on our roster to come back an improved player, and the buy in, the commitment all season long—all summer long coming into the year.”

All-Star center Nikola Jokic also played big with his second career postseason triple-double with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and he was the one who made the pass to Murray for what would be the eventual game-winner. 

The other big reason the Nuggets are in the Semifinals after as mentioned falling one game short of the playoffs the last two seasons was that they finally made the commitment to playing consistent defense and that showed in the most important game of the season. 

On a night where they shot just 39.8 percent from the floor and were just 2 for 20 from three-point range, the Nuggets held the Spurs to 36.5 percent from the field, including 6 for 23 from distance themselves. They out-rebounded them 61-53 and outscored them in the paint 56-44. Aldridge and DeRozan combined to score just 35 points on 13 for 37 shooting in the Game 7 loss. 

“I love the grit, the resiliency, the toughness we played with tonight,” Coach Malone said after the win. “Even late when they made their run…. we never lost our composure.” 

Coach Malone added about his team’s defense that they went from a bottom five defensive team to No. 1 in the league in defending the three-point line and a Top 10 overall defense during the regular-season. 

One player who really showed grit and toughness in the Nuggets first postseason series win was swingman Torrey Craig, who was moved into the starting lineup the last four games against the Spurs and he provided a tenacity at the defensive end where he made DeRozan work for every shot he got, which made a huge difference. 

For the Nuggets to get past the Trail Blazers this upcoming Semifinal tilt, they will need for Murray and Jokic to continue to play at a high level. 

They will also need stronger play offensively from Paul Millsap, Will Barton, Monte Morris, Mason Plumlee and Craig. 

They will need that same grit against a high scoring Trail Blazers team has the hottest player so far this postseason in the aforementioned Lillard. 

“We got a heel of a challenge waiting for us,” Coach Malone said of facing the Trail Blazers. “A team that’s been resting, getting ready, and Damian Lillard is playing at a whole another level. So, you enjoy this for a second and you start thinking about Portland, and all the challenges they present.”   

In the four wins the Nuggets had against the Spurs, Murray scored 24, 24, 23, and 23 points making 34 for 66 from the field. In the three losses, he scored just 17, six and 16 points making on 17 for 47 shooting. 

Murray being in attack mode offensively will keep Lillard occupied and maybe wear him down so those key shots he will take throughout the game possibly fall short. 

“It’s a great First-Round for us, but that’s a different beast,” Murray, who went 9 for 19 shooting in the Game 7 win versus the Spurs said to TNT’s Dennis Scott about facing the Trail Blazers. “Their very discipline. Their very talented. So, were going to have to bring a lot, especially in their arena.”

In their series against the Thunder, Kanter, Collins, and Leonard had to deal with the brute strength of starting center Steven Adams. In this series, they will be dealing with the most skilled center in “The Association.” The Trail Blazers’ reserve big men will have to be very productive with Kanter dealing with a very sore left shoulder that he injured in the team’s Game 5 clincher versus the Thunder. 

The other key to this series is which shooting guard will step up to provide support to their fellow backcourt mate. Will it be CJ McCollum for the Trail Blazers, who averaged 24.4 points, 5.4 boards and four assists in the First-Round, making 45.5 percent of his field goals and 44.7 percent of his threes? Or will it be Murray’s backcourt mate Gary Harris, who had a solid series against the Spurs averaging 14.7 points on 48.7 percent from the field and 46.7 percent on this three-point attempts. 

The Trail Blazers and Nuggets each came into this postseason with something to prove. The Nuggets were really put to the test against a playoff perennial in the Spurs and earned their first playoff series win in 10 seasons, while the Trail Blazers got a serious playoff monkey off their back with their first playoff series win since 2016. The star players for both teams in Lillard and McCollum for the squad of “Rip City,” and Jokic and Murray for the team that represents the “Mile High City” are eager for this tilt that will have one step closer to possibly competing for an NBA title. 

Prediction: Trail Blazers in seven games.
  

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 4/24/19 1 a.m. and 4/28/19 12:30 a.m.  edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 4/27/19 10 p.m. “San Antonio Spurs versus Denver Nuggets,” Game 7 on TNT with Brian Anderson, Kevin McHale, and Dennis Scott; 4/28/19 www.nba.com “Nuggets versus Trail Blazers Series Preview: ‘Dame Time’ for Nuggets After Surviving Spurs,” by Sekou Smith; www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/schedule/_/name/por; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/den; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Portland_Trail_Blazers_seasons.