Jokic, Porter dominate one half each as the Nuggets eliminate Portland
Jun 4, 2021, 6:34 AM
Facing elimination, the Portland Trail Blazers were always going to come out with energy. The Nuggets knew it, and Michael Porter Jr. did something about it.
“I knew they were going to come out super aggressive,” Porter said after the game. “I knew it was going to be rough out there. So I was shooting, being aggressive, and that’s how it went.”
“It” was Porter’s 22 points in the first quarter with six three-pointers, as the Nuggets’ slithery new star scored almost at will. The rest of the Nuggets scored only seven points in that opening stanza, willing to feed the 22-year-old Porter Jr. as much as he could handle. Porter Jr. finished the half with 26 points, while presumptive MVP Nikola Jokic had only nine.
Jokic’s time would come, however, and Porter Jr.’s maturity would come into play later — even if he, himself, did not.
Jokic was unstoppable in the second half, scoring 27 points in every which way; dunks, three-pointers, floaters and anything else you can imagine, flummoxing the Blazers’ defense late as Portland’s Jusuf Nurkic got into foul trouble again. Jokic took full advantage late, running a brilliant pick-and-roll game with guard Monte Morris, and the Nuggets’ defense in the final quarter did the rest with an aggressive effort that held Portland to only 14 points in the fourth quarter.
JaMychal Green was part of that last-minute push, in part due to Porter. Green was so active and successful on both offense and defense that, while on the bench with roughly six minutes left to play, Michael Porter Jr. suggested to head coach Michael Malone that he should avoid putting him back in the game in the waning minutes, exclaiming, “Let ‘JaMyke’ rock!”
Porter Jr. never re-entered the game as the Nuggets overcame a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to shock the Portland faithful and win the series, four games to two.
Despite Damian Lillard’s heroics in the series, the Nuggets — injury-ravaged as they are — were the better team, and clearly, Jokic was the best player.
“He’s the MVP, hands down,” Morris said.
Jokic, whose unselfishness is becoming the stuff of NBA legend, pointed out that it was Porter Jr. that personified the Nuggets’ ethos on this night by encouraging Malone to leave Green in at his own expense.
“He sacrificed himself for the group, for the team, to win the game,” Jokic said.
“It’s never about ‘me.’ It’s always about the collective group,” Malone said. “That’s why we have such a special culture.”
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NEXT UP: Game 1: Nuggets at Suns (series tied, 0-0) | Monday, Jun. 7. Time: 8:00 p.m. | TV: TBD
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NOTES
• The Nuggets are the only 2020 conference finalist to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Boston, Miami and the Lakers were all eliminated in the opening round. All but the Nuggets were the lower seed, as well.
• Monte Morris played a major role for the second game in a row, scoring 22 points off the bench with nine assists while playing almost all of the second half. Morris deftly handled the two-man, pick-and-roll game with Jokic that had been lacking since Jamal Murray’s season-ending injury. “We didn’t want to come here and lay down and take our chances on a Game 7 in Denver,” Morris said. “We wanted to finish the job.”
• JaMychal Green provided a spark on both sides of the ball, scoring 10 points and collecting nine rebounds in a 23-minute outing that finished with him leading the team in plus/minus (+22).
• The Nuggets finished the third quarter on a 21-10 run, then outscored the Blazers 28-14 in the fourth quarter for a combined 49-24 tidal wave that allowed them to overcome a 14-point deficit and win the game by 11 to finish off the series.
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THE FINAL WORD
“Our goal coming into the season was not to get out of the first round. We have much bigger goals.” — Michael Malone.
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ROTATION (MINUTES)
Starters
G Facundo Campazzo (23)
G Austin Rivers (40)
F Michael Porter Jr. (34)
F Aaron Gordon (33)
C Nikola Jokic (36)
Bench
G Monte Morris (33)
F JaMychal Green (23)
F Paul Millsap (12)
G Markus Howard (5)
G Shaquille Harrison (1)
F Bol Bol (DNP-CD)
F Vlatko Cancar (DNP-CD)
C JaVale McGee (DNP-CD)
F Zeke Nnaji (DNP-CD)
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INJURY WATCH
• Will Barton (hamstring) was injured on Apr. 23. Coach Michael Malone said Barton will be out “for the foreseeable future” on Apr. 24, but it’s possible that he could return in the Nuggets’ second-round playoff series.
• P.J. Dozier (right hip tightness) left the May 3 game and is out indefinitely. His availability for the Nuggets’ second-round playoff series is unclear.
• Jamal Murray (torn left ACL) was injured in the final minute of the Apr. 12 game. His season is over, and realistically, Murray will be out until at least the 2022 All-Star break.
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Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan
