Written by Titan Frey
- NUGGETS 126
- TRAIL BLAZERS 115
The Portland Trail Blazers, led by sharpshooter, Damian Lillard, has been balling out over the last stretch of the regular season and into the play-in tournament.
In the playoffs, the Blazers have had many great moments, especially by Lillard.
But in this do-or-die elimination game 6, the Blazers blew it. Portland had a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and they were up 97-84 with just over three minutes to go in the third.
What happened? The Nuggets made plays in the fourth and the Blazers did not. This isn’t a good sign for the Blazers.
Remember, the Nuggets are without their starting guard, Jamal Murray, and the Blazers still couldn’t get out of the first round.
Is it time for Portland to blow up the team and start fresh? Maybe.
You have to give the Nuggets props for playing hard and never giving up. With this win, they move on to the second round and wait to see who wins the next game on this night…
- SUNS 113
- LAKERS 100
Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns is the real deal. In his first playoff series closeout game, Booker dropped 33 points in the first half alone. He finished with 47 on 15-22 from the floor and 8-10 from deep. It’s safe to say this young baller put his stamp on the game.
The Suns ran away with the game in the first half, just as they did in game 5, leading by as much as 29 points.
LeBron James, a player who’s never lost in the first round, needed to come out more aggressively than the previous game.
Unfortunately for Laker fans, he did not. LeBron started passive and this, along with Booker’s amazing start, is why the Lakers fell in a hole.
This game wouldn’t be like game 5, not completely at least. The Lakers battled back in the third.
The Lakers got as close as 12 points in the third, and LeBron played more aggressively.
But in the 4th, LeBron missed plenty of shots he normally makes and Chris Paul, who was relatively quiet most of the game, came up big.
Paul made some big shots. He made the right passes at the right time to set up an easy score for his teammates and the Suns ran away with it.
My last note on the game is about Lakers star, Anthony Davis. Even though he’s injured with the groin and knee, he gave it a go.
This was not a wise move. Davis played barely over 5 minutes, and in those 5 minutes, the Suns attack him.
Davis couldn’t move too well, and his last play was chasing Booker to the hoop. Davis pulled up, grabbed at his groin, and screamed to be taken out.
Davis shouldn’t have tried to play this game, but I do give him credit for trying.
The one stain on Davis’ career has been his health. Will Davis be able to get a hold of his health and make it through an entire season next year?
That’s a question we’ll have to ponder as we continue to watch the NBA playoffs.
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