Denver Nuggets avoided another amazing performance by Damian Lillard to win the Monday night game against Portland Trail Blazers.
48 hours after the Denver Nuggets managed to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the Game 7 for the first time in 41 years, they were led by Nikola Jokic who scored 37 points to win over the well-rested Portland Trail Blazers to win the opener of their second-round series.
Lillard, who scored 50 points in this game including his 37 feet long buzzer to oust the OKC Thunder in 5 games, only managed to lead the Portland Trail Blazers in this game with 39 points.
Still, he had nearly half a dozen turnovers and missed 8 of his 12 3-pointer shots and suffered 3 blocks from Gary Harris during the closing minutes of the game to keep the Blazers hold their ground in the game.
Jamal Murray, who scored 23 points along with 8 rebounds for the Trail Blazers said, “We just made him uncomfortable tonight.”
As for Nikola Jokic, despite playing 41 minutes a night earlier, he played another outstanding 43.5 minutes on Monday night as he displayed another one of his amazing performances.
He completed 11 of his 18 shots and also completed all of his 12 free throws with 9 boards and 6 assists.
Paul Millsap said of Jokic, “he is a sponge. He picks it up. He sees how people are playing and guarding him. Then he makes all the right plays. This is what is great about him. He does not force anything over him. Everything he does is going to be the right play. He is like a quarterback on the court. I think of him as Tom Brady who always makes the right reads. It is unbelievable.”
As for the game 2 of the semifinals series between Nuggets and Trail Blazers, it will be played on Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center.
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