Rodney Hood’s Clutch 3 Helps Blazers Outlast Nuggets for Historic 4OT Game 3 Win

The Portland Trail Blazers survived a four-overtime marathon with a 140-137 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals. 

Rodney Hood played the role of hero, putting the Blazers up 138-136 on a three-pointer with 18.6 seconds remaining.

The Nuggets lit up Portland’s defense for 121 points in the first game between these two teams. The Blazers responded by holding them to 34.7 percent shooting in Game 2 and then returning home to win their 11th straight game at the Moda Center dating back to the regular season. 

Damian Lillard didn’t play his best, going just 10-of-24 from the field for 28 points. CJ McCollum was terrific down the stretch, scoring 28 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods. 

Nikola Jokic is getting used to dominating in the postseason. Denver’s big man had his third triple-double of these playoffs with 33 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists. He did have a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line in the fourth OT but missed his first attempt to secure the win for Portland. 

Jamal Murray finished with a playoff-career-high 34 points.

Nuggets-Blazers Destined to Be Epic 7-Game Prizefight

Jokic, who finished with 65 minutes played, and the Nuggets and Blazers did things that haven’t been done in the NBA in 66 years:

It’s almost a shame the second round of the NBA playoffs are loaded with marquee matchups, because this series has all the makings of a heavyweight slugfest that will go the distance. 

Denver has already made it through one series like that, surviving seven games against the San Antonio Spurs to win its first postseason series in 10 years. 

Portland had few problems making it past the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games, highlighted by Lillard’s second playoff-series walk-off shot and one of the most savage waves of all time. 

Before the start of this series, Sean Deveney of Sporting News predicted it to go seven games but didn’t sound optimistic about Portland’s chances to win because of Jokic:

“In the one game that Denver lost to Portland, star center Nikola Jokic did not play. In the three games he did play, Jokic averaged 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists, shooting 62.0 percent from the field.

“Without (Jusuf) Nurkic, that matchup becomes more of a nightmare for the Blazers, who will count on the defensively challenged Enes Kanter to try to hold Jokic down. Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts will have to be creative in finding ways to help Kanter in this one.”

Through the first three games, Jokic has certainly made his presence felt. The MVP candidate has been an unstoppable force, averaging 28.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the series and embarrassing Zach Collins in the fourth quarter Friday:

The numbers show Jokic has a lot in common with the most famous movie villain in the world right now:

While Thanos’ plan involved snapping away half of the world’s population, Jokic’s plan is just to get Denver into the Western Conference Finals. 

It’s probably not a surprise the Nuggets’ two best games in the series have come when Jamal Murray played up to his potential. The inconsistent guard went 6-of-18 in Game 2, but he made up for it by nearly carrying them to victory Friday. 

On the other end of the floor, the Blazers need to get Lillard back on track. He started out great with 39 points on 12-of-21 shooting in Game 1 but has since made 15 of his last 41 attempts. 

Yet even with Lillard trying to regain his first-round form, Portland has remained competitive throughout the series. He nearly had another game-winner on this night with a floater to give his team a 102-100 lead with 31.6 seconds remaining. 

The Nuggets didn’t panic, responding on their next possession when Will Barton made a layup after a great pass from Jokic. 

It was only fitting at least one meeting between two teams that have been so evenly matched over the course of three games would end up in overtime. 

Overtime featured another similar back-and-forth sequence, only this time it was the Blazers needing to tie the game on McCollum’s floater:

Every NBA fan was eagerly anticipating the Golden State Warriors-Houston Rockets playoff rematch. It was understandable because they are arguably the two best teams in the Western Conference and played their own seven-game epic last year. 

The Nuggets-Blazers series was relegated to second-class status, with the winner considered a steppingstone to the NBA Finals for either the Rockets or Warriors. That series has been a disappointment thus far, with Golden State holding a 2-0 lead. 

Meanwhile, Denver and Portland are trading haymakers each night with no margin for error on either side. Everything points to a long, epic battle between two teams on the rise in the West. 

What’s Next?

The Nuggets and Blazers will play Game 4 on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.