The Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets put on an entertaining back-and-forth Game 6 that wasn’t quite as crazy as Game 5, but was still a memorable game. 

Michael Porter Jr. went supernova in the first quarter, scoring 22 points of on 8 of 10 shooting while make 6 of 7 triples. He single-handedly kept the Nuggets in the Game as they finished down 33-29 against the Blazers.

MPJ’s scoring explosion was necessary in part because Nikola Jokic was forced to sit with two fouls with a lot of time left in the first quarter.

Damian Lillard, as usual, was unstoppable from the field in the first half as well, with 19 points and three triples including a sick one in the closing seconds of the second quarter that pushed their lead to 68-61. He got a lot of help from Norman Powell and CJ McCollum, who had 13 and 11 points. Anfernee Simons also hit all three of his triples for nine. 

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Porter Jr. did cool down in the second quarter as he only scored 4 points in that period, and no one else hit double figures for the Nuggets in the first half. Jokic came closest with 9 points.

The second half started strong for the Blazers as they built a double-digit lead early on and kept piling on the pain, looking like they were on the way to a blowout and a forced Game 7.

However, the Nuggets suddenly got themselves into a roll toward the end of the third quarter, and Jokic scored 20 points to suddenly cut the Portland lead to 101-98 entering the fourth period.

Jokic continued his hot shooting and hit a big three to give them a 108-106 lead halfway through the period. The Nuggets really flipped the script in the fourth quarter and actually pushed their lead to 119-108 with 3:20 left in the game.

The Blazers, as good as they played through the first two and a half quarters, ran out of steam especially in the fourth quarter and just couldn’t make the big shots. Lillard wasn’t great from the field compared to Game 5 and he finished shooting 8 of 20 and 3 of 11 from long range and finished with 28 points, 4 rebounds and 14 assists. CJ McCollum finished with 21 points but struggled with his shot again as he finished 9 of 21 from the field and 2 of 8 from three. You can’t say he didn’t get help this time, either, six total Blazers scored in double figures. 

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All credit has to go to the Nuggets, who didn’t wilt under adversity and continued to grind it out when things were rough. It’s not easy to come back from a 14-point second half deficit but they found a way to do it.

Jokic finished the game with 36 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, while Porter Jr. ended the game with 26 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Denver had a big contribution from their bench, too, as Monte Morris, like in Game 5, had another big game off the bench and finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists. JaMychal Green chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds, and those boards really helped break Portland’s back.

The Nuggets will have a few days to rest, but for now Jokic will enjoy avenging his playoff loss to Lillard a couple of years back. He showed his props to his old foe, too, which was nice to see.