A late-game comeback attempt fell short in Game 7 as cold shooting and tough shot-making from C.J. McCollum did the Denver Nuggets in. Despite a furious comeback attempt in the final minutes, the Nuggets’ season came to an end in the Western Conference semifinals Sunday. "Tonight is the end of the season, but I'm not going to allow it to take away from the magical year we had,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “I couldn't have asked for anything more from our guys." It was another quick start for the Nuggets as they jumped out to an early 14-7 lead on the back of strong shooting (5 of 7 from the field, 2 of 2 from three). A balanced scoring attack led the way for Denver in the quarter, as four players scored at least 6 points. The Nuggets held Portland to 7-of-25 from the field on their way to building a 29-17 lead after one. Denver’s bench extended the lead to 39-22 after the first five minutes of the second as the defense continued to get stops. Portland would respond with a 9-0 run midway through the quarter to get within eight points, but the Nuggets starters extended the lead back up to double-digits shortly after. Ultimately, the Nuggets took a 48-39 lead into the halftime break. Portland continued to chip away at the lead to begin the third quarter. Midway through the quarter, the Nuggets lead was cut down to just five at 60-55. It was a back-and-forth affair for the remainder of the quarter as the Nuggets held on to a 72-71 lead after three. Portland outscored Denver 32-24 in the quarter to climb back into the game. The Trail Blazers went on an early 10-4 run to begin the fourth quarter, which gave them an 81-76 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. Portland continued to hold on to a lead throughout the majority of the quarter as Denver’s offense struggled to consistently generate quality looks. Although Denver’s defense continued to get stops, the offense wasn’t able to cut into Portland’s lead. The Nuggets made a valiant effort in the final minutes of the game, as they used a 10-4 run of their own to get within one point with 30 seconds remaining. However, McCollum responded with a step-back jumper to extend Portland’s lead back up to three. Portland decided to foul on the ensuing possession and Nikola Jokić missed the first of two free throws. Denver’s season was riding on Evan Turner, who calmly knocked down two free throws to all but seal the Portland victory. "The Denver Nuggets had an outstanding season, no one saw that coming,” Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said. “Nikola Jokić is an amazing player, they're a young team, they're going to have a lot of success moving forward." Three takeaways: 1) C.J. McCollum couldn’t be stopped All of the noise coming into Game 7 was about Damian Lillard having another opportunity to make his mark on a series. However, ultimately it was McCollum who led the way for Portland as he dropped 37 points on 58.6 percent shooting from the field. McCollum dribbled his way into a variety of looks from around the court as Denver couldn’t consistently take him out of the game. In a game in which Lillard struggled mightily, McCollum answered the bell for Portland. 2) Nikola Jokić continued to dominate A main storyline throughout the entire series was the lack of defensive options that Portland had for Nikola Jokić. The trend continued in Game 7 as Denver’s All-Star finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 42 minutes of action. Jokić had success throughout the series and proved that he can be the No. 1 option for a team in the playoffs, even while shouldering a big usage and heavy minutes. Despite the tough loss, Jokić continued to be the driving force until the very end. "I hope after 14 playoff games that America came to appreciate Nikola's game,” Malone said. “He's upset because he didn't think he did enough for us to win the game. We all know it's not on him." 3) Denver was locked in defensively Just as they did in their first Game 7 this postseason, the Nuggets came to play on the defensive end. Portland shot just 40.9 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from beyond the arc. Denver’s perimeter defense against Lillard was particularly impressive, as Lillard was held to 13 points on 3-of-17 shooting from the field, which put more pressure on McCollum to lead the Trail Blazers’ offense. The Nuggets continued to stay in the game as a result of their defense, which gave them an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds. Despite the season-ending loss, Malone is more than comfortable with the state of the franchise. "I love where we're at, but more importantly I love where we're going and who we're going there with."<doc-sep>The Portland Trail Blazers roared home after being down by as many as 17 points to book their ticket to the Western Conference Finals. The Portland Trail Blazers are heading to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000 after a thrilling 100-96 Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets on the road. CJ McCollum led the way with a game-high 37 points on the night, with Damian Lillard struggling with his shot all game, connecting on just 3-of-17 shots for his 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points, 13 rebounds and two assists, with Jamal Murray adding 17 and Gary Harris 15. With the Blazers booking an appointment with the Golden State Warriors, here are four key takeaways from today's action... CJ McCollum came to play On a night where Damian Lillard struggled to get going, CJ McCollum took the reigns for the Blazers, willing them to a Game 7 victory. McCollum scored 14 of his game-high 37 points in the crucial third quarter, helping the Blazers claw their way back from as many as 17 points down to go into the fourth quarter trailing by just one point. In the final 90 seconds of the game, McCollum came up with two huge mid-range jumpers to keep the Blazers in front, scoring six of their final eight points on the night. McCollum channelled his inner LeBron with his Game 7 heroics, doing his best impersonation of the King with this monster chasedown block on Jamal Murray in the fourth quarter. Dame steps up when it matters most It was a rough Game 7 for Damian Lillard. Despite finishing with just 13 points on 3-for-17 shooting from the field, Portland's All-Star guard was involved in one of the game's biggest sequences. With 3:28 remaining in the game, Denver grabbed a defensive rebound with an opportunity to cut into a four-point deficit. All-Star centre Nikola Jokic tossed an errant outlet pass that was intercepted by Lillard, who found Evan Turner on the wing before he relocated to the left corner for a wide-open triple. While Lillard struggled to get going from the field, he made his presence felt as he grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out eight assists and snagged three steals in the Blazers' decisive win. As the Blazers move on to face the Warriors, improved production and efficiency is to be expected from Lillard. Moments like the one above serve as a reminder that big-time players will always find a way to make an impact regardless of how the game is going. A tale of two halves The Blazers just couldn't buy a bucket in the first half of Game 7 and were lucky to go into the third quarter trailing by only nine points. Outside of McCollum, the rest of the team shot just 7-of-34 in the first half, with Lillard managing just seven points on 1-of-9 shooting. Credit the Nuggets, who came out of the gates playing decisively on their home floor as they made a point to smother Lillard at every turn, limiting his impact all game. After Denver took a 12-point lead after the first quarter and a 17-point lead in the second, they couldn't finish the job, letting the Blazers back in as they struggled to keep up their offence as they game wore on. Both teams struggled shooting the ball from deep, with the Blazers going 4-of-26 from deep, while the Nuggets hit just 2-of-19 threes, missing their final 17 attempts after Jokic his two early triples in the first quarter. What goes on at the top Last summer, when CJ McCollum spoke with Warriors All-Star forward Kevin Durant on the Blazers' title aspirations, this was his response: Kevin Durant busts out laughing when CJ McCollum says the Blazers can win the title: 'Don't worry about what goes on at the top of things'https://t.co/jMHDvDEe8g pic.twitter.com/AWCZrQP8BP - Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) July 25, 2018 Now, 10 months later, a virtuoso performance from McCollum has earned the Blazers a date with the Warriors, who await the return of the injured Durant and DeMarcus Cousins, in the Western Conference Finals. What was once a laughable anecdote has now become an interesting reality in which McCollum, Lillard and the Blazers will look to continue to shock the NBA world.<doc-sep>The first of two Game 7s starts with the Nuggets hosting the Trail Blazers. Winner of this one will have their shot at taking down the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals The Portland Trail Blazers get it done on the road! They defeat the Denver Nuggets 100-96 to reach their first Conference Finals since 2000. CJ McCollum could not be stopped in this one - he went for a game-high 37 points, including some clutch buckets down the stretch to keep his team alive. Nikola Jokic exploded for 29 points, 13 rebounds and two assists but it wasn't enough to give his team the win. If you missed any action from Game 7, we had you covered with updates, highlights and more. Final: Portland Trail Blazers 100, Denver Nuggets 96 After Nikola Jokic went 1-for-2 from the free throw line, Evan Turner goes 2-for-2 from the line to give Portland a 100-96 lead with eight seconds on the clock. CJ McCollum is a bad man. He matches Jamal Murray's step-back with one of his own to put the Blazers up 98-95 with 11 seconds to go! Jamal Murray with a huge step-back jumper to make it a one-point game with just 30 seconds remaining! The Blazers lead 96-95. Damian Lillard comes up with a huge steal in the backcourt and caps it off with a clutch 3-pointer to extend the Blazers lead. Jamal Murray attacked and got fouled, sinking both free throws to make it 92-87 Portland with 3:09 left in the game. With every possession magnified, CJ McCollum comes up with a huge chase down block on Jamal Murray to preserve an 87-83 lead with 4:26 to go. Out of the stoppage in play, Evan Turner will go to the free throw line with a chance to extend Portland's lead. A Damian Lillard 3-pointer gives the Trail Blazers their biggest lead of the game at 81-76 with 8:51 remaining. It was his first 3-ball of the game and he's 2-for-13 from the field, but he's making an impact in other areas with nine rebounds and eight assists. ET with the HUGE offensive rebound & Dame drills the trey 👌 pic.twitter.com/63d9EnJdeq - Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 12, 2019 End of third quarter: Nuggets 72, Blazers 71 After scoring 15 points in the first half, CJ McCollum scored 14 points in the third quarter alone to will the Blazers back into this one. The Nuggets remain in the lead by one point, but the Blazers had taken their first lead of the game just before the end of the quarter. Portland (1-for-19) and Denver (2-for-13) are a combined 3-for-32 from beyond the arc in this game. CJ McCollum's 14 3rd quarter PTS (29 total) have the @trailblazers back within one! #RipCity #NBAPlayoffs Watch the 4th quarter of Game 7 on #NBAonABC pic.twitter.com/QjQCGieJBL - NBA (@NBA) May 12, 2019 The Trail Blazers cut the Nuggets' 17-point lead to one possession, but an and-1 finish from Torrey Craig regains some momentum for Denver. Rodney Hood went down with an injury on the play, holding his knee. Also worth noting, Zach Collins picked up his fifth foul on Craig's bucket. CJ McCollum is holding it down for the Trail Blazers. He already has six points in the third quarter and has cut the Nuggets lead to 56-49 with 7:52 left in the frame. CHRISTIAN JAMES GOT BOUNCE pic.twitter.com/yUfUk4taUa - Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 12, 2019 Halftime: Nuggets 48, Blazers 39 The Nuggets led by as much as 17 points before the Blazers made their run. Nikola Jokic has his team in command with 13 points and five rebounds. Per usual, it's a balanced scoring attack for the Nuggets with Jamal Murray's nine points, eight points from Paul Millsap and seven points from Gary Harris. Portland missed their first 10 3-point attempts of the game and are still shooting 1-for-14 at the half. Damian Lillard didn't score his first bucket until the six minute mark in the second quarter but has gotten himself going by getting to the free throw line. CJ McCollum is leading the team with 15 points, keeping the Blazers within striking distance. End of first quarter: Nuggets 29, Blazers 17 Jamal Murray is attacking early in this one, going on a personal 7-0 run to set the tone for Denver. Nikola Jokic is already up to eight points and Gary Harris has chipped in seven. CJ McCollum has done the majority of the scoring for Portland with eight points. Damian Lillard hasn't seen one go through the hoop yet, shooting 0-for-5 from the field, missing all three of his 3-point attempts. Pregame The Trail Blazers have us covered with a quick hype video ahead of this big one. Nikola Jokic flashing some speed ahead of Game 7.<doc-sep>DENVER — Damian Lillard's shots kept banging off the backboard, rattling off the rim, going everywhere but through the hoop. The Portland Trail Blazers are going to the Western Conference Finals anyway because CJ McCollum had his back. McCollum scored 37 points and added a crucial chase-down block in the closing minutes that helped the Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 100-96 in Game 7 on Sunday to advance to their first conference championship since 2000. They'll open Tuesday night at Golden State against the two-time defending NBA champion Warriors in a series pitting Portland's Seth Curry against his big brother, Golden State star Steph Curry. Lillard scored 13 points and made just 3 of 17 shots from the field, but two of them were critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that put Portland ahead 81-76 and 92-85. "It's a luxury to have two guys like that who can find different ways to score in different ways," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "CJ does it one way, Dame does it in another. On a night when Dame struggled shooting the ball CJ came up big." "CJ McCollum showed why they have one of the best backcourts in the NBA," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "He put his team on his back and made big play after big play." None bigger than when his crucial chase-down block with 4:44 left and the Trail Blazers leading 87-83. McCollum raced to stop a breakaway layup by Jamal Murray, who had a miserable night shooting, missing 14 of 18 shots. "Seth did a good job of cutting off his lane and making him have to go over his head," McCollum said. "He put it right there for me and I went and got it 'Bron style. Shout out to my guy 'Bron. It was a mini-version of 'Bron's block on Iggy some years ago. Definitely didn't get up as high but it was a cool play. I might get a picture of that." Lillard said it was just the spark the Blazers needed to complete the comeback from a 17-point first-half hole. "Those are the plays that get teams going, coming off a turnover and they get an easy one," he said. "At that point of the game you want to make them work for everything." The Nuggets were down 96-95 coming out of a timeout when McCollum hit a pull-up jumper over Torrey Craig with 12.4 seconds left. "All summer long I'm going to probably be second-guessing myself at the timeout," Malone said. "That's a shot he makes consistently. Torrey played good defence, as good a defence you can play 1-on-1. And I was saying after we should have sent someone at him. He's having a great game and make somebody else make a play or make a shot." The mismanagement continued: Jokic was fouled inside shooting a 2-pointer with 11.4 seconds left and missed the first free throw. Instead of missing the second on purpose, he made it for a 98-96 deficit. Eric Turner then hit two free throws with eight seconds left for the final margin, and Jokic missed a long 3-pointer, with five seconds remaining, Turner grabbed the rebounds and dribbled out the clock. The Nuggets raced to a 39-22 lead and Game 7 was beginning to look a lot like Game 5, when Denver blew out Portland by 26 points in this building. But Stotts called a timeout with 7:26 left in the second quarter and his team began chipping away. "There wasn't going to be any quit," Stotts said. "I didn't think they ever stopped believing. ... It was just about regrouping." The Blazers were down 48-39 at halftime and trailed by just a point heading into the fourth quarter. That's when the Nuggets' hopes of reaching their first Western Conference Finals in a decade died with a 7-of-24 shooting performance, including 3 of 10 from Jokic, who tearfully blamed himself in the locker room for the loss. Nonsense, said his coach, who suggested Jokic established himself during these playoffs as the best big man in basketball and he only petered out at the end because the Nuggets had to rely so heavily on the 7-foot All-Star. "I hope after 14 playoff games, America, everyone around the world, came to appreciate his game," Malone said. "For him to be as emotional and upset as he was speaks to his caring. He was upset because he thinks he didn't do enough for us to win tonight." It was a devastating end to Denver's season after the Nuggets ended a six-year playoff drought and earned the second seed in the Western Conference bracket. TIP-INS: Portland: Rodney Hood hyperextended his left knee in the third quarter. ... Evan Turner, who scored just four points in the first six games of the series, added 14 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Denver: The Nuggets were 2 of 19 from beyond the arc and missed 11 free throws. Portland was 4 of 26 on 3-pointers and 20 of 24 from the stripe. ___ Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports<doc-sep>
The Portland Trail Blazers have advanced to the Western Conference finals, thanks to a 100-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their second-round series. This will be Portland's first WCF appearance since 2000. Early on, it appeared the Nuggets were going to run the Trail Blazers out of the gym. They were up by 12 at the end of the first quarter, and extended that lead to 17 points in the second. But the Blazers used a nice run at the end of the half to cut the deficit to nine points. It not only made things more manageable, but gave them plenty of positive momentum. They continued their comeback in the third quarter, getting right back into the game behind CJ McCollum, who was fantastic all night. When McCollum hit a jumper late in the quarter, it gave the Blazers their first lead of the game. From there, the fourth quarter was a wild, back-and-forth affair as the two teams traded big baskets time and again. In the closing seconds, McCollum hit a step-back jumper to give the Blazers a three-point lead, and after some free throws on each side, that was the game. McCollum finished with 37 points and nine rebounds to lead the Blazers, while Nikola Jokic went for 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets. Here are some takeaways from the Blazers' thrilling victory: McCollum delivers in the clutch For most of the postseason, Damian Lillard has received the accolades in Portland -- and for good reason. But McCollum has been strong as well, and he kept that up with a massive performance on Sunday afternoon. When the Blazers were on the verge of being run out of the gym in the first half, McCollum was the only one scoring and keeping them in the game. And in the third quarter, he continued to power their comeback, eventually drilling a jumper in the closing seconds of the frame to give the Blazers their first lead of the night. Down the stretch, he continued to make big plays on both ends of the floor, coming up with a huge chasedown block on Jamal Murray before hitting a step-back jumper with 12 seconds to go to seal the Blazers' win. His performance was even more impressive considering Damian Lillard struggled for much of the night. Though he did make some big plays down the stretch as well, Lillard only scored 13 points in the game, shooting 3-of-17 from the field. Blazers' role players step up With Damian Lillard mired in his worst shooting performance of the postseason, the Trail Blazers needed other players to step up. McCollum was up for the task, but even he couldn't do it alone. The good news for Portland was that Evan Turner and Zach Collins had come to play as well. Turner has taken plenty of ridicule for failing to live up to his huge contract, but the man earned his pay in Game 7. Prior to Sunday, Turner had made just three baskets and scored seven points in 140 minutes this postseason -- a stat that seems almost made up, to be honest. But in Game 7, he was everywhere, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one block while also playing solid defense. Most important was that he scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter to help secure the Trail Blazers' win. As for Collins, he showed why the Blazers are so high on his potential. He gave them some huge minutes in Game 7, finishing with seven points, five rebounds and four blocks in a solid all-around performance. Collins' ability to space the floor while still holding his own against Jokic was vital for the Blazers with Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless struggling. Nuggets burned by 3s and free throws The Nuggets had a 17-point lead in the second quarter of Game 7, and appeared on their way to the Western Conference finals. But, of course, their season is now over, thanks in large part to their inability to hit two of the biggest shots in basketball: 3-pointers and free throws. After Jokic hit two triples in the opening few minutes of the game, the Nuggets didn't hit a single 3 the rest of the way, missing 17 straight attempts to close the game, an ironic number considering they blew a 17-point lead along the way.