Portland Trail Blazers: 3 Takeaways From Game 6 Victory

The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday night. The Blazers have now tied up this series 3-3 and will play a crucial Game 7 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

A Game 7 has been forced! The Portland Trail Blazers bounced back in this series after they played their worst game of the entire playoffs in Game 5. The team came out motivated and on a mission to put pressure on the Nuggets to close out the series. Here are some key takeaways from the Blazers 119-108 victory in Game 6:

Dame Dolla And CJ Explodes

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum unleashed a scoring clinic on the Nuggets. Both Dame and CJ came off of a poor shooting game in Game 5. Dame had 21 points on 9-21 shooting and CJ had 12 points on 5-16 shooting. It was just not their night in Game 5.

This was not the case in Game 6 as Dame and CJ combined for 62 points on the night. They played big minutes and took on the majority of the scoring load. Dame played 36 minutes and CJ played 42 minutes.

Dame stepped up when his team needed him the most as the 3-pointers that weren’t dropping in previous games started to drop in this game. Lillard was able to shoot 46 percent from three, knocking down six of them in this game.

Lillard was shooting around 28 percent from three for this series. He has finally found his shooting stroke and is going to need to keep it up going into a win or go home situation in Game 7.

McCollum did most of his damage from the midrange, giving that extra firepower to knock off the Nuggets. When Dame and CJ are on, they are near impossible to stop.

Rodney Hood’s Blazin Night

Rodney Hood played an efficient game and played big minutes off the bench for the Blazers. Hood scored 25 points on 66.7 percent shooting, 8-12 from the field.

He gave the Blazers even more firepower on top of the excellent play from Dame and CJ. Hood was scoring from everywhere on the floor, from post-ups to mid-range jumpers to 3-pointers, Hood was locked in all night.

He knocked down a couple of 3-pointers in the fourth that really helped give breathing room for the Blazers. Hood’s production was one of the more remarkable aspects of the Blazers’ play in this game.

Zach Collins Steps Up

In a game where Enes Kanter wasn’t playing great, only scoring 6 points on 2-9 shooting, Zach Collins stepped up in the big man role off the bench. Collins provided a great interior defense as well as pick and roll scoring.

Collins finished the night with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 5 blocks. His defense was much needed as he altered numerous shots and defended the paint. Collins was always at the right spot at the right time, benefitting off of extra passes.

Collins’ name has barely been mentioned throughout this series but it definitely will be from this game. He logged in 28 minutes and did his damage on the inside.