PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Trail Blazers and Nuggets are heading toward a Game 7 showdown after things got heated between the teams late in Thursday night's contest. A scuffle broke out midway through the fourth quarter of Portland's 119-108 victory, during which Blazers guard Seth Curry and Nuggets forward Will Barton shoved each other. As the two were being separated, Barton appeared to poke Curry in the eye. Denver's Torrey Craig and Portland's Zach Collins also got into it as the skirmish escalated. Officials handed out offsetting technical fouls for all four players. Afterward, Curry took exception to the Nuggets' actions, Barton's in particular. "He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye," Curry said of Barton. "You know what I'm saying. I can't allow people to put their fingers in my eye. "That's real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can't allow that." The incident occurred after Nuggets center Nikola Jokic drove to the rim and was called for an offensive foul, causing Collins to fall backward toward Barton's legs. Curry came over to help Collins up and nudged Barton away. Barton pushed back, and the skirmish ensued. Curry said he was surprised that Barton did not get ejected. Barton said he does not believe he will be suspended for Game 7 and explained that he was simply protecting himself from getting hurt after Collins fell toward him. "It ain't no beef," Barton said. "I wasn't even looking for that. I was just trying to protect myself. I guess he thought I was trying to stand on top of him and be tough. I was just trying to get out of the way before I got injured. He pushed me. I'm not going to let nobody push me. But that's nothing." Craig got in the middle of Barton and Curry, and Collins shoved Craig. Portland's Evan Turner then came over and held Craig at a distance. Officials took their time to examine the play before handing out the offsetting technical fouls with 6:16 remaining and Portland up 104-90. "I ain't worried about no fines," Barton said. "I ain't trippin' off that. Hopefully, [there's] no suspension off that. I think if I [did something to get] suspended, I would probably have gotten ejected." "It's competitive playoff basketball," Barton added. "Some things are going to happen. If we are all out there just being friendly, it ain't going to look like nobody trying to win." It's been a roller-coaster second-round series between two competitive teams, and it seems only natural that tensions finally flared. Damian Lillard hit six 3-pointers and scored 32 points, and CJ McCollum added 30 points for the Trail Blazers. Rodney Hood provided a difference-making 25 points to keep Portland's season alive. "We don't quit," Portland's Enes Kanter said. "I mean, that's one thing, we don't quit. I mean, we lost Game 5 by, what, [26] points? We know we are capable of winning there. We can beat that team." The Blazers won Game 2 in Denver 97-90, but the Nuggets will be playing a second consecutive Game 7 in this postseason at home, where they were a league-best 34-7 in the regular season. The Nuggets, though, know they cannot rely simply on the fact that they prevailed in Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs at home. "It's weird, everyone keeps talking about experience," Denver guard Jamal Murray said of many of the young Nuggets playing in their first postseason. "I just want to say that we've been here before. We'll go back home, regroup like we did for San Antonio, come back with energy and just be ready to play." Denver coach Michael Malone said he is hoping both teams will be at full strength, with nothing further coming out of the Game 6 skirmish. "I know for us -- I didn't see their bench -- but our bench never came close to coming on the floor," Malone said. "The referees and coaches from both teams did a great job of breaking it up. "I didn't see anything that would warrant any further techs, suspensions, whatever. Hopefully, both teams are at full strength for Game 7, which is what the fans deserve."<doc-sep>With a 3-2 lead in the series, the Denver Nuggets were unable to hold off a chippy Portland Trail Blazers team who forced a Game 7 with a big 119-108 victory on Thursday night. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were able to combine for 62 points in the game, although it was Seth Curry who was one of the bigger stories for the Blazers. In the fourth quarter, Curry got into a shoving match with Will Barton of the Nuggets which led to both players being pulled away by their respective teammates. Afterward, Curry spoke about Barton and the Nuggets, saying they're a pretty dramatic bunch. "He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye," Curry said according to ESPN. "You know what I'm saying. I can't allow people to put their fingers in my eye. That's real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can't allow that." Barton gave his own explanation of what happened, saying he wasn't going to let anyone push him around. "It ain't no beef," Barton said. "I wasn't even looking for that. I was just trying to protect myself. I guess he thought I was trying to stand on top of him and be tough. I was just trying to get out of the way before I got injured. He pushed me. I'm not going to let nobody push me. But that's nothing." Game 7 will go down on Sunday in Denver.<doc-sep>The Portland Trail Blazers took a 14-point lead with just under six minutes remaining in Thursday night’s Game 6, a game they had to win to save their season and force a Game 7 in Denver, when things took a strangely violent turn between the two teams. Denver’s Will Barton freaked out a bit on Seth Curry as the Portland guard went to help a teammate get up off the floor. Barton gave Curry a good shove and then when Curry came back to have words with him, Barton appeared to push his finger into Curry’s eye. For real. Check it out for yourself: Will Barton puts finger in Seth Curry's eye WTF? pic.twitter.com/ECk1OwWi4h — gifdsports (@gifdsports) May 10, 2019 Will Barton booped him pic.twitter.com/hJCfL6mOYs — SB Nation (@SBNation) May 10, 2019 Seth Curry with a finger in the eye by Barton pic.twitter.com/K0ssd3Sv7b — Alan Ly (@theAlanLy) May 10, 2019 Four players received technicals for the scuffle but nobody was thrown out. Portland won the game, 119-108, which means we’ll have a Game 7 on Sunday. Which should be fun.<doc-sep>The Nuggets’ 119-108 Game 6 loss to the Trail Blazers didn’t end without a few fourth-quarter fireworks. With 6:16 remaining in regulation, Will Barton and Portland guard Seth Curry shoved each other after Zach Collins, who was defending a Nikola Jokic drive a few feet away, flew into Barton’s knee. As officials jumped in to separate the two, Barton raised his right hand and appeared to poke Curry in the right eye. Torrey Craig and Zach Collins then engaged in the scuffle and pushed one another before they were also separated. All four players were assessed technical fouls on the play. “He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye,” Curry said of Barton after the game. “You know what I’m saying. I can’t allow people to put their fingers in my eye. “That’s real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can’t allow that.” Barton responded to those comments following the Nuggets’ practice on Saturday. “I pay no mind to it. I know who I am. People who know me know what I represent,” Barton told BSN Denver. “That’s pretty funny coming from a guy like him. There’s nothing ‘front runner’ or ‘sassy’ about me. Especially coming from him. I don’t even take him seriously coming from where I come from, so it doesn’t matter.” Nuggets coach Michael Malone doesn’t think that Game 6 altercation between the two teams will carry over into Game 7 and noted that the incident was rather minor compared to the fights that his father, Brendan Malone, saw when he was an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons from 1988-95. “To me that’s weak,” Malone said Saturday. “If that’s chippiness, I mean, I grew up in a much different time in the NBA. If that’s chippiness and you want to call us ‘sassy,’ go ahead, but to me, it’s a joke. It’s Will Barton protecting himself from a guy falling into his knees. Seth Curry taking offense to it, they get into a minor skirmish, move on. “Game 7 will be hard fought, it will be emotional because of what’s at stake, but I don’t think it will be a carryover from what happened last game. It’s playoff basketball. It should be a hard-fought game, it should be physical and it should be teams protecting each other. Again, that’s a different era when you think about my father when he was with the Bad Boys and all that. That was nothing in my opinion.” Tensions continued to mount during the closing minutes of Game 6 following a C.J. McCollum 3 with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter when Evan Turner stuck up his middle finger towards the Nuggets’ bench, which Jason Quick of The Athletic reported was in response to rookie Michael Porter Jr. giving the same gesture to Portland late in Denver’s Game 5 win. Security also had to be called down to behind the Nuggets’ bench in Game 6 after Portland fans seated close by were yelling obscenities at Denver’s coaching staff and players, including Jokic and Isaiah Thomas, league sources say. Paul Millsap shrugged off both incidents when asked about the tensions between the two teams Saturday and said he wasn’t aware of Turner or Porter’s middle finger salutes. “It’s all fun, man. It’s basketball,” Millsap said. “Two teams trying to get to the next round. There’s going to be a few middle fingers thrown up. There’s going to be a few f-bombs. There’s going to be pushing and shoving. It’s just going to happen, man, it’s just the nature of the game.” “I’ve been in the league for 13 years,” Millsap said when asked about Curry’s comments. “I’ve been called way worse than ‘sassy’ … I’m sure he wasn’t talking about me.” Game 7 is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. MT. “It’s going to be a physical game just because it’s Game 7,” said Barton, who yelled, ‘I’m sassy!’ when he shot a 3-pointer as Saturday’s practice wrapped up. “Both teams want to win.”<doc-sep>
Denver Nuggets swingman Will Barton responded to the comments made by Portland Trail Blazers guard Seth Curry calling him and his team “sassy” and “front-runners.” “I pay no mind to it. I know who I am. People who know me know what I represent. That’s pretty funny coming from a guy like him. There’s nothing ‘front runner’ or ‘sassy’ about me. Especially coming from him. I don’t even take him seriously coming from where I come from, so it doesn’t matter,” Barton said, per Harrison Wind of BSN Denver. Barton and Curry were involved in an altercation during the fourth quarter of Game 6, with Seth claiming that the Nuggets veteran game him a cheap shot in the eye when they were being separated. “He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye. You know what I’m saying. I can’t allow people to put their fingers in my eye.” “That’s real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can’t allow that.” This isn’t the first time that both teams were involved in some minor melees during the series, and it’s starting to be clear that they don’t like each other. For Nuggets forward Paul Millsap though, those altercations are always part of the game. “It’s all fun, man. It’s basketball. Two teams trying to get to the next round. There’s going to be a few middle fingers thrown up. There’s going to be a few f-bombs. There’s going to be pushing and shoving. It’s just going to happen, man, it’s just the nature of the game.” Both squads will have the opportunity to come away with the last laugh on Sunday when the winner-takes-all Game 7 takes place in Denver. The winner of the series will go on to face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.