Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets: Injury report and how to watch

The push for a seventh consecutive Playoff appearance rolls on for the Portland Trail Blazers. Tonight, they await a familiar foe. Here’s a quick preview, and information on how to watch.

The last time the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets battled in a game of even similar stature, CJ McCollum looked the part of a Hall of Famer, his 37-point masterpiece the strongest pull in a Game 7 tug-of-war that placed Portland in their first Western Conference Finals in two decades. And while this is no win-or-go-home, the Blazers will have a chance to get one step closer to stamping their ticket into the postseason.

The Blazers (31-38) come into this game having seen virtually everything go right in their Playoff pursuit. They’re the only team seeded No. 8 to No. 11 with a winning record in the Orlando bubble, effectively closing the gap between them and the Memphis Grizzlies (32-37) to just a single game.

Anchored by strong second-half play — only the Heat and Jazz have been better in second halves during the restart, plus-minus wise — the Blazers have jumped out to a 2-1 start, and are hoping to continue their positive fortune against Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets (45-23) in must-win tilts.

Denver will have tons to play for, too, despite having long locked up a postseason berth. They’re just ½ of a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed, a development that could be the difference between playing the Houston Rockets or say, the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. They haven’t been intimidating, but they are respectable winners of 2 out of 3 in the bubble as well.

Vegas sees the Blazers as 4-point favorites. That likely has to do with injuries. In a strange (but certainly still unfortunate) turn of events, many of the Blazers’ major competitors have taken bites from the injury bug. That could be the case tonight as well.

Much of Denver’s talented backcourt missed the Spurs game, and that doesn’t bode well for this SEGABABA. (And no, I will never miss the opportunity to use the term “SEGABABA.”)

Let’s consider some of the details of this Blazers-Nuggets tilt:

Injury Report, per CBS Sports:
— (POR) — Jaylen Adams, back (game-time decision)
— (DEN) — Will Barton, knee (expected to be out until Aug. 6)
— (DEN) — Gary Harris, hip (expected to be out until Aug. 6)
— (DEN) — Jamal Murray, hamstring (expected to be out until Aug. 6)
— (DEN) — Vlatko Cancar, foot (expected to be out until Aug. 14)

How to follow the action:
— Date: Thursday, August 6th
— Time: 5:00 PT
— How to watch: NBC Sports Northwest, NBA League Pass, or fuboTV
— How to listen: NBA League Pass, Rip City Radio 620 AM

Portland Trail Blazers projected lineup:
— Damian Lillard (G), CJ McCollum (G), Carmelo Anthony (F), Zach Collins (F) and Jusuf Nurkic (C)

Denver Nuggets projected lineup:
— Monte Morris (G), Torrey Craig (G), Michael Porter Jr. (F), Paul Millsap (F), Nikola Jokic (C)