McCollum leads Blazers past cold Nuggets, 97-90
DENVER — After giving up 39 points to Damian Lillard in the opener, the Denver Nuggets were determined to make sure Portland’s role players would have to bear the burden of evening up the series.
His teammates were up to the task on a night that Lillard, who came in averaging 34.8 points in the playoffs, was held to 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting.
CJ McCollum led six Trail Blazers in double figures with 20 points in a 97-90 victory at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night that evened their series 1-1.
“It’s very important,” said Enes Kanter, who chipped in 15 points for Portland. “Teams can’t guard him with one man. They were sending double-teams, triple-teams. That’s when I said, ‘He’s making himself better, but at the same time he’s making everybody else better around him.’ He was passing the ball, really active on defence. He’s been unbelievable, man.”