The Portland Trail Blazers face off against the Denver Nuggets tonight at the Moda Center with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. Before the action gets underway, how are you feeling about this Game 6 matchup? Hopeless? Confident? Nervous? At peace? Do you think the Blazers can even up this series with a win at home? We’re taking the pulse of Rip City to find out how the fans are feeling about the pivotal showdown. For Game 6 between the Nuggets and Blazers, how are you feeling? Can Portland turn things on in front of their hometown crowd, or will it be the Nuggets who send Portland home from the postseason? Vote in our poll and then head to the comments. Make your score prediction and tell us how you think Game 6 will play out tonight in the comments section. - Tim Brown, The Oregonian/OregonLive | @timfsbrown Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox<doc-sep>GAME 7 TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW Another series, another Game 7. The Denver Nuggets got off to a hot start in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, but weren’t able to capitalize on it in a disappointing 119-108 defeat on the road at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. Nikola Jokić continued his stellar inaugural postseason run with another incredible game, pouring in 29 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Unfortunately, for the Nuggets, Game 6 saw a return to form from Portland star Damian Lillard, who had his best performance of semifinals with 32 points on 11 of 23 shooting. When Denver took a 16-7 lead after back-to-back threes from Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, it appeared as if the team would be booking its ticket to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2009. The Nuggets would take a 34-26 lead entering into the second quarter, which appeared to be a positive as the team was 3-0 in the postseason when it leads after the opening 12 minutes of the game. With their backs against the wall, the hosts would respond in the second quarter as they outscored Denver 32-20. CJ McCollum sparked Portland’s turnaround as he hit two threes en route to a nine-point quarter. “In that second quarter, everything got turned around really quick.” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “Give their bench credit, those guys came in and played really well for them.” It was in the second half where Lillard would take over the game, as he poured in 21 points – including 17 in the third quarter. Although Denver outrebounded Portland and won the turnover battle, they couldn’t get going on offense as the team shot 38.4 percent from the floor. The Nuggets will look to regroup and use their homecourt towards their advantage in Game 7 on Sunday at Pepsi Center (TV and time TBD). “Now we go home and [we] have the best homecourt advantage in the NBA,” Malone said. “We’re going to rely on that once again to try to close out Game 7.” Here are three takeaways: Bench struggles The Nuggets’ bench couldn’t get going in Game 6 as Portland’s reserves outscored the unit 40-11. The unit shot just 4 of 16 on the night and allowed the Trail Blazers bench to hit 13 of its 23 shots. Rodney Hood has been difficult for the Nuggets to contain throughout the semifinals and it continued on Thursday night as he finished the game with 25 points on 66.7 percent shooting. Zach Collins was also effective as he had 14 points, five blocks and four rebounds. “I thought Rodney Hood was the MVP of the game,” Malone said. “[He] had a huge impact throughout the game, all four quarters. The Nuggets bench was a significant reason why the team was able to get past San Antonio, but outside of Will Barton, the unit hasn’t been able to get going in the semifinals. Denver’s reserves are shooting 36.6 percent in the semifinals as opposed to converting at 44.7 percent in the first round. Defensive regression Denver’s defense was the catalyst of the team taking a 3-2 lead in the semifinals heading into Game 6 as it did a superb job of limiting the effectiveness of Lillard in the first five games. Lillard, a career 37 percent shooter from downtown, was hitting just 25.7 percent against the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. That would change on Thursday night. Portland’s star guard was lethal from behind the arc, hitting 6 of 13. Part of Lillard’s success came from extending his range as he unofficially hit at least two shots from at least 27-feet out. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Lillard wasn’t the only player who knocking down threes from downtown as the Trail Blazers hit 15 of 33 on threes. Entering Thursday’s game, Portland was shooting 32.7 percent from downtown. “We have to play better defense, it’s pretty black and white,” Malone said before later adding. “In our wins in the playoffs, our defense has carried us. Even on nights like this where you struggle to make shots, you have to rely on your defense. I thought our defense was not where it needed to be tonight.” Jokić gonna Jokić There aren’t enough superlatives to describe what Jokić is doing in his first-ever postseason experience. Jokić shot 66.7 percent and continued his recent uptick in hitting threes, going 2-for-3 from behind the arc. It isn’t a surprise that when the Serbian center dealt with foul trouble, picking up his fourth in third quarter, the Nuggets had a difficult time of getting into rhythm until he returned at the 9:56 mark.<doc-sep>Three keys to Game 6 Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. Their pick-and-roll chemistry is off the charts right now, and the Blazers are mostly helpless. Portland tried deploying the more athletic Al-Farouq Aminu on Jokic in Game 5, and that didn’t impede his production. Enes Kanter tried slowing Paul Millsap, but both of Denver’s big men had huge nights as the Nuggets dominated inside. Jokic and Murray each have so many tools at their disposal, taking away one action only allows for another. The Blazers are learning that the hard way. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Portland’s megastar backcourt failed to assert itself in Game 5. McCollum, the better player throughout the series, was inefficient and Lillard again struggled from 3-point range. No one would dare suggest he’s not capable of catching fire, though it’s tough to watch him and not reach the conclusion that his legs are exhausted. Gary Harris, Lillard’s primary cover at times, said their success in slowing him is a nod to their entire collective team defense. Game 6 attitude. Nuggets coach Michael Malone warned his team not to take for granted the opportunity they had against San Antonio when they tried to win Game 6 in the first round. They obviously didn’t. Thursday’s Game 6 offers another chance to close a team out that’s playing for its season. How the Nuggets come out will reveal even more about this team’s character. I expect them to play hungry since it could potentially buy them some rest ahead of the Conference Finals. Paul Millsap said their first Game 6 was “shocking” for some guys. “I think we’ll be ready,” he said.<doc-sep>
The Denver Nuggets have an opportunity to close out the Blazers in their playoff series in tonight’s Game 6 at the Moda Center. The Nuggets have experienced this situation before. They had a chance to close out the San Antonio Spurs on the road in a Game 6 in the first round of the playoffs. That experience didn’t go well for the Nuggets and they say they learned some valuable lessons. “Having gone through it in Round 1. Same scenario, on the road - a chance to potentially close out an opponent,” Denver coach Michael Malone said after the team’s shootaround Thursday morning. “We’ll have to have a much different mindset than we had in San Antonio. “We learned from it. We weren’t disciplined. We weren’t aggressive. We weren’t physical. That can’t be the same thing tonight. If we happen to lose tonight’s game, it can’t be because we didn’t have that urgency, physicality, that aggressiveness. We have to control what we can control." The Nuggets lead the Blazers 3-2 in the best-of-seven series in the Western Conference semifinals. They also had a 3-2 lead on the Spurs in the first round going into a closeout Game 6. The Nuggets gave up 34 points to the Spurs in the first quarter and played catch-up the rest of the game in their 120-103 loss. Denver eliminated the Spurs in Game 7 at home, but Malone said he doesn’t want his team to think about the comfort of knowing if they lose tonight, they’ll play Game 7 at home. The Nuggets expect the Blazers will come out with plenty of energy. “We have to be ready for it,” forward Torrey Craig said. “We expect them to be extremely aggressive right out of the gate. We have to prepare for it, be ready for the hit and be ready to counter.” The Nuggets also know they can win on the road, having defeated the Blazers in Game 4 to regain home court advantage and position themselves to advance to the Western Conference finals with a win tonight. The Nuggets rebounded to win that game after losing Game 3 in an emotionally and physically draining four overtimes. “Coming back and winning a game that no one gave us a chance in winning in Game 4, I think gives us confidence coming into this building,” Malone said. “Any time you play against an opponent that is desperate and has nothing to lose, that’s a challenge. But I think our guys understand what’s ahead of us, how we need to play and the approach that will be necessary for us to come out of here with a win and try to close it out." -- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreycarnold