By Adrian Stewart Co
Portland Trail Blazers formalized its entry to the Western Conference playoffs after a 132-116 beating of Denver Nuggets in the 2020-2021 NBA Season on Monday (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
CJ McCollum drained five triples and finished with 24 points, Damian Lillard ended with double-double 22 points and 10 assists, while Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.
Norman Powell and Enes Kanter also did their share for Portland with 19 and 14 markers, respectively, while Carmelo Anthony and Anfernee Simons had 10 markers each.
The Trail Blazers were scorching to start the game with three-point conversions from McCollum, Lillard and Powell for a 43-22 lead. Inside hits by Nurkic and Kanter widened the gap further to 72-55 at the half.
Portland went on with its offensive avalanche in the second half behind Lillard, McCollum, Powell, and Nurkic as the lead grew to its largest at 111-84 early in the fourth quarter.
The Trail Blazers finished the eliminations as the no. 5 team in the West with 42-30 win-loss slate and will face no. 4 ranked Los Angeles Clippers (47-25) in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Dallas Mavericks, which also has a 42-30 win-loss slate, dropped to no. 6 after suffering a defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves. They will face no. 3 Nuggets (47-25) to start the playoffs
Defending champions Los Angeles Lakers (LAL), also with 42-30 win-loss, finished the eliminations at no. 7 spot and was relegated to the play-in tournament for the last two Western Conference playoffs seat.
The Lakers will face Golden State Warriors in the play-in tourney on Thursday with the winner clinching the no. 7 playoff seat and the loser relegated in a do-or-die game for the 8th and last playoffs spot.
Meanwhile, Utah Jazz (52-20) secured the top-seat in the Western Conference after a 121-99 beating of Sacramento Kings. Filipino-American guard Jordan Clarkson drilled 33 points to lead the Jazz.
Phoenix Suns (51-21), on the other hand, finished as the no. 2 team in the West after scoring a 123-121 escape over San Antonio Spurs. E’Twaun Moore led the shorthanded Suns with 22 points./ASC, WDJ