In Game 2, Blazers Even Series Shows That They Are More Than Just Lillard

As much as these Portland Trail Blazers are about Damian Lillard, about their endurance and endurance and their undeniable ability, talent and ability, there's more to them than just Lillard.

This team that has been created around Lillard, the point guard of the Blazers in the NBA, the healthy remnants that remain in this stage of a long and hard season of the NBA, had to rescue their leader this time.

"Dame Time" never materialized on Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center in Game 2 of these Western Conference semifinals.

Lillard was out, basically from the beginning.

He simply did not have his usual juice, scored 5-for-17 from the floor and finished with 14 points in the postseason and four assists.

But the rest of the Blazers, from CJ McCollum to rarely used reserve forward Jake Layman, showed up and led the Blazers to a 97-90 victory over the Denver Nuggets and even the series heading to Portland for the Game 3 of Friday at the Fashion Center.

"I thought we used them in the first half, even though we were not throwing the ball particularly well," Lillard said as he assessed the effort of his team. "Then, in the second half, it was just a kind of game. In those games you just have to be the hardest team. You have to love it more and then you have to make some moves follow your path. "

The idea that the Blazers stole the home court advantage on a night when Lillard, who finished his first-round series against Oklahoma City with a 37-foot hitter in the face of Paul George, had problems in one of his games harder of the season, I would have looked laughable before this.

CJ McCollum finished with a total of 20 points, including two triple clutches in the fourth quarter.

Doing it with Lillard fighting and knocking down two other starters (starting center Jusuf Nurkic missed for the rest of the season at the end of March and forward Maurice Harkless injured his ankle and played only 13 minutes of the first half on Wednesday night) ... impossible?

And yet, there was McCollum, again and again, shooting a shot, grabbing a rebound or finding an open teammate to stop the Nuggets late. He finished with a maximum total of 20 points (on 8-of-20 shots, to go with six rebounds and six assists) on a night of physical bruises when draining open shots proved to be a difficult task for everyone involved.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://www.nba.com/news