Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. I write about what’s happening in the NBA daily. Hey! We’re in the playoffs now!
Denver eliminates Portland from the postseason.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Bruce Ely/Portland TrailBlazers.)
The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Portland TrailBlazers from the playoffs after a huge comeback in Game 6.
And it looked like the Blazers were on their way to forcing a Game 7. They had a nice balanced offense that Damian Lillard didn’t have to force himself to put up huge numbers like he did in Game 5.
Meanwhile, Michael Porter, Jr. couldn’t miss in the first quarter. He scored 22 of the first 27 Nuggets’ points, which was badly needed after Nikola Jokic had two early fouls.
The Blazers were able to run away for a bit and lead by 14 in the third. But we saw a more aggressive Jokic, who was able to help the Nuggets quickly cut into the deficit. Jokic scored 20 points in the third. Suddenly, Denver only trailed by three entering the fourth after Monte Morris sank a buzzer-beating three.
Denver eventually caught Portland early in the fourth before Carmelo Anthony scored five straight points to give the Blazers a four-point lead. Then Nuggets ripped Rip City with an 11-0 run. Lillard tried to get the Blazers back into it but the threes that were going in at Game 5 weren’t going in for Game 6. Aaron Gordon made a three to put the Nuggets up 9 with under a minute left to go. That turned out to be the clincher. Denver survives and avenges their Western semis series loss to the Blazers from two years ago.
This is the game to show people on why Jokic should be MVP. Remember that they’re still down Jamal Murray yet he never panicked and willed his team to victory. Porter and Morris have been particularly big the last couple of games. Porter has been designated as the #2 option and he didn’t disappoint. Monte scored a playoff career-high of 28 points in Game 5 then scored 22 in Game 6. And Austin Rivers hit some big shots throughout this series.
As for the Blazers? They’re in a crossroads. You can tell Damian Lillard is frustrated. He voiced out that this team isn’t good enough to win a championship, especially since they can’t even beat an undermanned Denver team. It’ll be interesting what they do in this offseason. There has been speculation about Terry Stotts, even though he has two years left in his contract. What’s popular around people is that CJ McCollum probably should be dealt but what can they get back in return?
What they need is to be better defensively, especially on the perimeter. Yes, Dame and CJ are incredible scorers but they need a wing (especially with size) or two (or three) to cover the perimeter defensively and help conserve Dame and CJ for the offense. The Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Lakers have Alex Caruso, Wesley Matthews, and even LeBron James. The Suns have Chris Paul and Mikal Bridges (even Devin Booker is an improved defender). The Bucks have Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. You get the point.
But yeah, the Blazers might be in for a shake-up.
For now, though, the Nuggets advance to the second round. And now they’re hoping to get back to the Conference Finals. It’s NOT going to be easy, though, because…
Bullet Passes
…the Phoenix Suns handled business and eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers. Fitting because in their last playoff trip (2010), the Lakers eliminated them in the West Finals in what was pretty much Steve Nash’s last hurrah.
Devin Booker torched them early and often and it felt like we saw right in front of our eyes that Booker took it to the next level. He scored 33 of his 47 points in the first half. Phoenix led, 36-14, in the first half. While there were some runs made by the Lakers (they cut the deficit down to 10 in the fourth), Phoenix showed resolve and fended off the defending champions.
Jae Crowder shot the ball well (he’d get ejected for taunting and dancing late in the game; he even ran off the court once he knew he was ejected), which the Suns had badly needed. Chris Paul was a maestro on controlling the pace (12 assists). Cameron Payne, even when he shot badly, did a very good job whenever Paul sat. But Game 6 was just all Devin Booker. He wanted to get it over with and it showed in his game.
Anthony Davis tried to play with a hurt groin. But groin injuries take a long time to recover from; remember that LeBron James sat the second half of the 2019 season out after the groin injury became too much. After 5 minutes of play, Davis was deemed done for the game. And really, for the season since the Lakers are gone from the postseason.
LeBron finished with 29-9-7 but we knew he still wasn’t 100 percent; otherwise, he would’ve wrecked shop the entire game. All-in-all, it was a disappointing title defense for the Lakers. Injuries cost them, for sure, and that may have been caused by fatigue. They had such a quick turnaround on the season. And now, they’re finally going to get some proper rest.
Pundits like to say that this is the first time LeBron James has been eliminated this early in the postseason. But I mean, he didn’t make the playoffs his first two seasons so I don’t look at it as a big deal as most people do. If he made the playoffs EVERY year, then yes. But that’s not the case.
So after all of that, the top three seeds in each conference survived. And we’re getting the Suns vs the Nuggets in Round 2. That is going to be so fun. We’ll preview most (all?) conference semifinal series late Friday/early Saturday.
NBA Playoff Scoreboard
June 3, 2021
NBA Playoff Series Count
EAST
#1 Sixers defeat #8 Wizards, 4-1.
#5 Hawks defeat #4 Knicks, 4-1.
#2 Nets defeat #7 Celtics, 4-1.
#3 Bucks defeat #6 Heat, 4-0.
WEST
#1 Jazz defeat #8 Grizzlies, 4-1.
#5 Mavericks lead #4 Clippers, 3-2.
#2 Suns defeat #7 Lakers, 4-2.
#3 Nuggets defeat #6 Blazers, 4-2.
Watch This Play
One final Laker highlight for this season. Talen Horton-Tucker with a nice putback jam here.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Yoboimo.)
One more first round series left. Will Dallas advance? Or is this going 7 between the Mavs and the Clippers?
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.