Though it was in a Portland Trail Blazers loss, Damian Lillard had an all-time great performance against the Denver Nuggets in game two of the playoffs.
The Blazers best player was on the money right away in game two. After 34 points and 13 rebounds in game one, Dame did a ton of damage in the first half this time. With ten points in the first quarter and his jumper going well, he took it upon himself to score.
With his teammates cold early, Dame was on a mission in the second quarter as he canned an amazing six three-pointers and 22 points in one quarter. By hitting 8 three-pointers in the first half, he tied an all-time playoff record for all teams.
Sadly, the Blazers were having a stinker on both ends. CJ McCollum was scoring well, but he had five turnovers as he and his teammates struggled to take care of the ball. On defense, they gave up offensive boards and open threes like crazy as the Nuggets dominated them on the scoreboard. Jusuf Nurkic had fouled out early, and as he was the defensive lynchpin, this was basically the end of the game.
Dame finished with an amazing 42 points, and 10 assists with 9 made three-pointers, but this performance may be forgotten as the Blazers went down by 128 – 109. Though they picked up one away win, which is key, the Blazers should be concerned about their defense and the turnovers. This is a great Blazers team, but they need to do better on the defensive end.
They now get two days off to rectify these issues before coming home to play in front of a crowd at the Moda Center.