By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Portland Trail Blazers led most of the game and withstood a late surge to defeat the Denver Nuggets, 97-90, at the Pepsi Center. They tied the best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinals series at 1-1 with the away victory on Wednesday.
Enes Kanter was involved in a scuffle down the stretch after being pushed by Nikola Jokic, but finished with 15 points, nine boards, two steals, two rejections and one assist in 32 minutes. C.J. McCollum poured a game-high 20 points.
Jokic wasn’t as dominant as Game 1, but still put up a team-high 16 points, grabbed 14 boards, dished seven helpers and added one steal to his tally. Juan Hernangomez didn’t leave the bench.
The next two games of the series will be played at Portland. However, the Blazers will go on without injured Jusuf Nurkic.