Trail Blazers hit back against Nuggets
C.J. McCollum scored 20 points as the Portland Trail Blazers held off a late rally from the Denver Nuggets to score a series-leveling victory in their NBA Western Conference play-off duel yesterday morning (Singapore time).
McCollum led the scorers in a hard-fought 97-90 victory on the road at Denver's Pepsi Center to tie the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
Portland talisman Damian Lillard had a relatively quiet night, restricted to just 14 points after shooting five-of-17 from the field.
However, double-digit contributions Enes Kanter, Zach Collins, Rodney Hood and Al-Farouq Aminu helped Portland get over the line.
"I really liked our approach in the first half, particularly the first quarter," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
"I thought we were a lot better offensively than in game one. We did a better job on the ball. I liked the tone we set for most of the game."
The Blazers looked to be cruising towards a comfortable victory after a dominant first half, surging into a 50-35 lead at the break.
They opened up a 17-point lead early in the third quarter, and led by 14 heading into the final period.
Denver mounted a late assault, slowly chipping away at the Portland lead, but succeeded only in narrowing the deficit to seven points. - AFP
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