Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers Even Series, Win Game 2 vs. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

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The Portland Trail Blazers stole home-court advantage from the Denver Nuggets in their second-round playoff series with a 97-90 victory in Game 2 at the Pepsi Center.

Portland tied the series at a game apiece and now has a chance to seize control with the next two at home, where it hasn’t lost this postseason.

CJ McCollum led the way with 20 points, six assists and six rebounds, but the visitors used a balanced attack throughout. Six players finished in double figures, including Damian Lillard (14 points on just 5-of-17 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 shooting from deep), Enes Kanter (15 points and nine boards) and Al-Farouq Aminu (11 points and 10 rebounds).

The Nuggets received double-doubles from Nikola Jokic (16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists) and Paul Millsap (14 points and 11 boards) while grabbing 23 offensive rebounds, but it still wasn’t enough to go up 2-0 in the series.

Balanced Blazers Attack Means Nuggets Living on Borrowed Time

The Trail Blazers aren’t supposed to win playoff road games without Lillard and McCollum putting the team on their backs.

With Jusuf Nurkic sidelined, they are the only Portland players who averaged more than 13.1 points a night during the regular season. They also have the ball in their hands on almost every possession, meaning they are in full control of the pace and where the team is generating its shots.

Lillard in particular has been the biggest story of the playoffs due to his showdown with Russell Westbrook and buzzer-beater three that sent the Oklahoma City Thunder home.

And yet, Portland was up by 15 at the half against Denver in Game 2, even though Lillard had six points on 2-of-8 shooting and McCollum had five on 2-of-9 shooting. Logic dictates that would have been a disastrous formula for the visitors, but the rest of the roster turned in a much better effort than the Game 1 loss.

Kanter made up for defensive concerns by establishing himself as a force on the blocks and glass. He made Jokic work on the defensive side and then exploited the matchup with Mason Plumlee when Jokic was in foul trouble.

Elsewhere, Zach Collins found success on the blocks, Rodney Hood (15 points) darted into openings created by the attention Lillard drew, and Aminu sought opportunities in transition. Had Maurice Harkless not limped to the locker room after twisting his ankle in the first half, the entire starting lineup would have been in double figures.

The frontcourt also wasn’t the insurmountable problem it was in the first game because the doubles were faster to Jokic and Aminu held his own against Millsap, even tying him up for a jump ball during one impressive play.

Kanter isn’t strong enough on the defensive side to guard Jokic in one-on-one matchups, but the Trail Blazers swarmed around him and forced others to beat them to make up for the mismatch.

It was just a matter of time before the guards got involved, and Lillard more than doubled his points in the third quarter while McCollum facilitated and unleashed smooth floaters whenever he found space in the lane. McCollum also drilled a critical three-pointer with less than four minutes remaining to push the lead back to double digits and was the best player on the floor for much of the fourth quarter.

The scary thing for the Nuggets is the realization that Lillard is surely going to explode in one of these games. He is one of the league’s premier scorers and will likely find his touch from deep going back home.

That Denver lost home-court advantage when McCollum had just 16 points and three assists in Game 1 and Lillard struggled to find his shot in Game 2 means its expiration date is in sight.

Portland’s role players have adjusted to the Nuggets putting so much attention on Lillard, Jamal Murray was limping for much of the second half, and Denver was an ugly 20-21 on the road this season. Combine that with the inevitable head-turning Lillard performance that is surely on its way, and the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed will duck out of the playoffs in the second round.

What’s Next?

The series shifts to Portland for Friday’s Game 3 and Sunday’s Game 4.