By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Jokic had 36 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 126 – 115 in Game 6 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series to win 4 – 2 and advance to the next stage.
Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points, all of them in the first half, while Monte Morris notched 22 points plus nine assists for the Nuggets that came back from down 14 in the third period thanks to a 20 – 6 run and dominated the fourth period 28 – 14 to get the win.
Damian Lillard finished with 28 points plus 13 rebounds and CJ McCollum had 21 points in the last Blazers game of the season. Jusuf Nurkic had 13 points and seven rebounds, playing with foul trouble for most of the second half.
Portland was up 75 – 89 with 6:20 minutes to play in the third period but the Nuggets chewed that deficit to close the quarter down 98 – 101. Monte Morris put Denver ahead 102 – 101 from deep.
After consecutive buckets by Carmelo Anthony, Morris, Austin Rivers and Jokic scored to once again give a lead to the Nuggets with the latter making it 121 – 113 with 1:37 to play.
The Blazers made a last assault for a comeback but an offensive rebound by JaMychal Green led to an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer for the 124 – 115. With 52 seconds to play there was no turning back.