Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.<doc-sep>Game 7 of the Portland Trail Blazers’ second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets is set to tip off at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Pepsi Center in Denver (TV on ABC). The Blazers-Nuggets series is knotted at 3-3, and the winner of the decisive Game 7 will advance to the Western Conference finals and take on the top-seeded Golden State Warriors. Golden State edged the Houston Rockets 118-113 in Game 6 on Friday night in Houston to take the series 4-2. Game 1 of the Western Conference finals is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in Oakland.<doc-sep>Rodney Hood has been the star of the Portland Trail Blazers' bench in this beautiful, exhausting, exhilarating battle against the Denver Nuggets, and he deserves all the public fawning. He's averaging 16 points on 60 percent (!) shooting, and brutalizing whichever undersized guard the Nuggets throw at him -- to the point that Denver for one stretch of Game 6 slid Paul Millsap onto Hood, and a smaller wing onto Evan Turner. The Nuggets might want to try that again in Game 7. Hood is beasting in the post. He is averaging 1.37 points per isolation in the postseason, second behind Marcus Morris among players who have recorded at least 15 such plays, per Second Spectrum. He has proven up to the challenge of defending Jamal Murray. Swapping Hood for one of Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu -- 7-of-30 combined from deep in this series -- has upped Portland's shooting quotient without compromising its defense. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, dealing with traps at every turn, have more space to breathe with Hood on the floor. He has punished Denver for creeping away to help on Portland's central pick-and-roll action: It has been a wonderful story. Hood quaked under the pressure of replacing Gordon Hayward in Utah, and disintegrated playing with LeBron James in Cleveland on the game's biggest stages. He has rediscovered his game, and his confidence, amid Portland's healthy culture. With one of Lillard and McCollum always on the floor, Hood can focus on what comes naturally to him (scoring) instead of what has always seemed a little outside his wheelhouse (running an offense). Neil Olshey, Portland's general manager, grabbing Hood for Wade Baldwin, Nik Stauskas, and two future second-round picks on the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday -- four days before the trade deadline -- barely registered, but the Blazers would not be playing in Game 7 without that deal. Hood has had some bench help in the form of a reserve with much more long-term importance to Portland: Zach Collins, the edgy and roaring big man who has spent time at both power forward and center against Denver, and thrived in both roles. Olshey traded the 15th and 20th picks (Justin Jackson and Harry Giles III) in the 2017 draft to Sacramento to move up and select Collins with the 10th pick. Some insiders dubbed the move a reach -- some dub any splashy draft-day move for a big man a reach as the league evolves toward guards and wings -- and Donovan Mitchell indeed went three spots later. But the Blazers had no pressing need for Mitchell with Lillard and McCollum on board. Portland bet Collins would mesh with their star guards before they exited their primes, and that bet is starting to pay off. The Blazers have outscored Denver by 22 points in 113 minutes with Hood and Collins on the floor, per NBA.com. They have played together mostly in bench-and-McCollum lineups that have generally won the starts of second and fourth quarters. Denver has countered with lineups featuring Millsap as the lone starter, but those groups have been a disaster despite Millsap's best "adult in the room" efforts. Turner, working as a small-ball power forward, has battled Millsap in the post since Game 4 after Millsap bullied him in the earlier part of the series. Collins took the Millsap assignment for a couple of possessions in Game 6, leaving Turner to guard Mason Plumlee; the Blazers might want to revisit that setup if Millsap gets into a Game 7 groove. Denver dumping the ball to Plumlee in the post against Turner is a win for the Blazers. Small children should avert their eyes during Plumlee's laborious post-ups. One of these teams has only 48 minutes left in its season. Those bench-on-bench clashes become even more fraught Sunday. Expect both coaches to treat them with more urgency. Murray started the fourth quarter of Game 6 alongside Millsap -- a second starter to bolster the bench mob -- and Michael Malone might want to have one of Murray and Gary Harris (stout all series) on the floor at all times in a do-or-die game. Malone will surely stretch Nikola Jokic as far as he can go, and he has already gone a preposterous 65 minutes in one epic game in this series. Portland has been wary of matching Collins and Jokic in center-versus-center minutes. Jokic can bulldoze Collins in the post, though Collins thwarted him on one key faceup attack late in Game 6 and drew a charge about a minute later on one of those delicious inverted Jokic pick-and-rolls. Doubling Jokic only unlocks his lethal passing game. Collins is vulnerable on the defensive glass. He's still filling out. Keep an eye on the minutes chess match. Good thing Collins can play next to Enes Kanter, too -- and defend Denver's power forwards. Portland is plus-15 in 31 Collins-Kanter minutes against the Nuggets, per NBA.com. Millsap has shot just 1-of-11 when matched up with Collins, according to Second Spectrum. Editor's Picks Lowe: Can the Sixers win big with Ben Simmons? Lowe: Twenty-three reasons to enjoy the wild Blazers-Nuggets series 1 Related So many of Portland's games against the best competition come down to whether Aminu and Harkless make open 3s. If they miss early, Collins has made a strong case to usurp more minutes at power forward. He and Hood played four minutes of Game 6 in place of the Harkless/Aminu duo alongside Portland's three other starters -- Lillard, McCollum and the tough-as-all-hell Kanter. That five-man group is plus-6 in nine total minutes for the series. Might we see it again Sunday? Collins has the blurry outlines of a modern big who can protect the rim, shoot 3s, post up guards on switches, and do just enough off the dribble to hurt you. (Witness his Eurostep floater in Game 5 when Denver trapped Lillard on the pick-and-roll, and let Collins slither into open space.) Those outlines have sharpened a bit in these playoffs. Collins is 4-of-12 from deep in the postseason, and has looked comfortable jacking from above the break.<doc-sep>PORTLAND, Ore. – Blazers guard Seth Curry said he was surprised Nuggets veteran Will Barton wasn’t ejected following a review of their fourth-quarter Game 6 scuffle that earned four players technical fouls. “Surprising, but it is what it is,” Curry said after the Blazers survived an elimination game and forced the Western Conference semifinals series back to Denver for Sunday’s Game 7. Barton, who said the scuffle started when Blazers center Zach Collins fell into his knee at the 6:16 mark of the fourth quarter, said he was trying to protect himself before pushing Curry. “I wasn’t even looking for that. You just look at the replay,” Barton said from the Nuggets’ postgame locker room. “Collins fell into my knees. I guess he thought I was trying to stand over the top of him, be tough. But 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. That’s nothing.” Replay Review (Game Crew): player altercation in Q4 of #DENatPOR. Ruling: Technical fouls assessed to Barton, Curry, Craig and Collins. pic.twitter.com/QQb9zoLsxS — NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) May 10, 2019 Curry appeared to lightly shove Barton, who responded in kind. But the temperature didn’t spike until Barton appeared to poke Curry in the eye. “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. “I can’t allow dudes to put their fingers in my eye. That’s real sassy. They got some sassy dudes over there. Front-runners.” People's Champ with heel turn and the Three Stooges eye poke on @sdotcurry 'They got a few sassy dudes over there, front runners.' See ya Sunday for Game 7 in Denver #RipCity pic.twitter.com/edXNaML3w2 — Nick Krupke (@NickKrupke) May 10, 2019 Barton, Curry, Collins and Torrey Craig were each assessed technical fouls. That wasn’t the only show of love between the teams, who’ve now had to be separated three times throughout the first six games of the series. With 1:19 remaining and the Blazers comfortably ahead, C.J. McCollum buried a dagger 3-pointer near Denver’s bench to make it a 113-101. As he walked back to the bench, head nodding knowing that his basket had sealed the win, teammate Evan Turner looked back and gave the Nuggets the middle finger. Barton, who saw video of what Curry had said and later saw the photo of Turner’s middle finger, was amused by both. Related Articles Kiszla: Nuggets fans booing Carmelo Anthony are foolish to let Melo live rent-free inside their heads 🔊 Nuggets Podcast: Looking ahead to Game 3 of Nuggets-Blazers as series flips to Portland Ball Arena’s capacity increases to 10,500 for Nuggets, Avalanche playoff games Nuggets 2021 NBA mock draft tracker 1.0: What the national experts predict Denver will do Examining Nuggets-Blazers scuffles during aggressive Game 2: “I don’t know how anybody wants to become a ref, to be honest” Asked by reporters earlier about the altercation, Barton said he didn’t expect any further punishment from the NBA. “I’m not worried about no fines,” Barton said. “I’m not tripping off that. Hopefully no suspension for that. I think if I would’ve gotten suspended, I probably would’ve gotten ejected.” Barton didn’t think the dustup was anything serious, and he dismissed the idea that it should serve as any extra motivation heading into Game 7. “I’m not going to try to justify that as a way for us to play hard or wake us up,” Barton said. “I just feel like it’s being competitive, it’s playoff basketball, some things are going to happen. If we’re all out there just being friendly, it ain’t gonna look like nobody’s trying to win, huh?”<doc-sep>
The Portland Trail Blazers weren't ready for their season to end on Thursday night. With their backs against the wall and facing elimination in Game 6, the Blazers responded in a major way and pulled out a 119-108 victory in front of their home crowd. With the win, the Blazers forced a do-or-die Game 7 situation that is set for Sunday in Denver. Portland's vaunted backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum led the way for the Blazers, as the duo combined for 62 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. The Blazers also got major contributions from their bench as Rodney Hood and Zach Collins combined to score 39 points off the pine. Nikola Jokic led the way for the Nuggets, as he finished the game with 29 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, while Jamal Murray added 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Paul Millsap chipped in with 17 points. Winning on the road in the postseason isn't easy, and closing out an opponent on the road is especially difficult. The Nuggets learned that the hard way on Thursday night. Here are a few takeaways from Portland's clutch Game 6 win: Lillard looked like his usual self Dame Lillard hadn't necessarily been held in check over the course of the first five games of the series with the Nuggets, but it's fair to say that he wasn't playing his best ball. In Game 6, he bounced back and looked like the All-NBA player to which we have grown accustomed -- the same guy who sunk the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round with one of the coldest daggers in NBA history. Lillard finished with a game-high 32 points, shot 6-for-13 from deep, and also added five assists. It was his best game of the series, and also his 15th career 30-point performance in the postseason. Blazers got a big bench boost Rodney Hood provided the Trail Blazers with some much-needed firepower off of the bench, as he went for 20 points and hit several big shots in Game 6. Portland can rely on consistent production from Lillard and McCollum, but at times this postseason they have searched for a third option, especially with Jusuf Nurkic sidelined. When they get another guy to step up and score 20-plus like Hood did on Thursday night, they become that much more difficult to defend. In addition to Hood, Zach Collins also provided the Blazers with some solid production off of the bench as he added 14 points and four rebounds of his own. The Blazers won the bench battle against the Nuggets big-time in Game 6, and that was a big part of the reason that they were able to walk away with a win. Denver's starters need some support On the other side of the coin … Denver got an all-around effort from their first five on Thursday night, as all five starters scored in double-digits and combined to score 95 points. The bad thing is that Denver scored just 108 points as a team, meaning that they got just 13 points of production off of the bench. Hood and Collins each single-handedly outscored Denver's entire bench, which tipped things in Portland's favor. In Game 7, Denver is going to need more from their reserves. Recap of Game 6 updates Below you can re-live the Game 6 action between the Nuggets and Blazers. If you are unable to view the live application below, please click here. No. 2 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 3 Portland Trail Blazers How to watch Game 7 Date: Sunday, May 9 Sunday, May 9 Time: TBD TBD Location: Pepsi Center-- Denver, Colorado Pepsi Center-- Denver, Colorado TV channel: TBD TBD Live stats: GameTracker GameTracker Online streaming: TBD TBD Odds: Will update when available TV listings All games will air on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV during the postseason. Games on TNT and NBA TV can be streamed via fuboTV (try it for free). Odds and Analysis Check Sportsline's NBA pick sheet for all your daily odds.