Damian Lillard has carried the Portland Trail Blazers this postseason, but his teammates stepped up in a big way to take Game 2 against Denver
Up until Wednesday night, these had been Damian Lillard‘s playoffs.
Heading into a pivotal Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets, Lillard was averaging 34 points and six assists per game. The Portland Trail Blazers guard had owned every big moment that came his way while leading his team through the first round in memorable fashion.
Those moments came in wins, like the 50-piece and series-winner that he dropped on Oklahoma City.
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They also came in losses, like Game 1 against the Nuggets on Monday. Lillard was outstanding once again, pouring in 39 points including 14 in the fourth quarter. And yet, when the final buzzer sounded, the Blazers found themselves in an early series hole against an opponent left vulnerable by a seven-game slug-fest in the first round.
CJ McCollum struggled with his shot, going 2-7 from 3. Al-Farouq Aminu and Mo Harkless, both in the starting lineup, combined for four points, six turnovers, and nine fouls. Even surprisingly strong showings from Rodney Hood and Enes Kanter weren’t enough to get them over the line. The result left a feeling that, in wins and in losses, Portland’s hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of their superstar.
Game 2 has, for the time being, proven that theory wrong. The 97-90 road win not only leveled the series heading into two games at the Moda Center, but it also showed off the potential depth of the Blazers and gave their secondary players a much-needed confidence boost.
Lillard hadn’t dropped below 24 points in his previous six games in the playoffs; on Wednesday he had just 14 while shooting below 30 percent from the field and finishing with nearly as many turnovers (three) as assists (four). If those numbers were listed to fans pregame, there would have been a mad scramble to bet on a Nuggets win.
Instead, the rest of Portland’s rotation stood up in a big way. CJ McCollum led the way, with his 20 points coming through a trademark mix of floaters, stepbacks and off-balance leaners. It wasn’t quite on the level of Dame Time, but he controlled the pace of the game down the stretch and hit some big shots when Lillard was misfiring.
Still fresh from Game 1’s stinker, Aminu played his role to perfection. He finished with a double-double, fighting hard against an onslaught from Denver’s strong frontline on the boards, and he frustrated them in the paint to finish with three blocks.
Kanter might be the best story of the postseason to date. Less than three months after he was warming the bench for the Knicks, the big man has arguably been Portland’s second most important player since Jusuf Nurkic‘s injury.
"We gotta treat every game like it's Game 7" @Enes_Kanter talks to @brookeolzendam in tonight's @Biofreeze Top Performance Review after scoring 15 points & 9 rebounds. pic.twitter.com/h5MhjbhEDp
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 2, 2019
His raw numbers were solid, but not as gaudy as in Game 1; 15 points and nine rebounds, while shooting 50 percent from the field. It’s on the defensive end, though, that his impact was felt more profusely. Kanter hassled and hindered Nikola Jokic at every chance he got, holding the MVP candidate to 16 points and baiting him into foul trouble early in the second half.
If Nurkic were healthy, there’s a good chance Zach Collins wouldn’t even be playing; instead, he’s backing up Kanter, and he scored 10 points of Portland’s 32 bench points. Hood scored in doubles figures for the second straight game and is proving to be another valuable scrap heap find since his trade from Cleveland.
To be clear, things haven’t changed that much for the Blazers. If they want to win this series, and to even be competitive beyond that, they’ll need Lillard at his best.
Game 2 was a perfect storm, a night where Lillard was down, almost every other Portland player was up, and the Nuggets were uncharacteristically sloppy. They shot 34 percent from the field, 20 percent from deep, and missed 10 free throws; that just won’t happen often, and most likely won’t happen again this series.
At least some of those struggles, though, can be attributed to the chippy defense of Aminu, Kanter and the rest of the Blazers. After plenty of wins on the back of Lillard’s hot hand, a victory by committee might be just what they needed. Now tied 1-1 and heading back home, their rotation from the top down should all feel confident in their ability to step up and be counted.
Before Wednesday, it was hard to imagine a Portland win without a big night from Lillard. Now, at least, he knows he has some support whether he’s firing or not.