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After splitting the first two games, the Denver Nuggets were able to re-gain their home-court advantage over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night. In another enthralling matchup between two prolific offenses, the Nuggets came away with a 120-115 win in Game 3 and will be looking to take a 3-1 lead back to Denver on Saturday.
Standing in their way is Portland Trail Blazers leader Damian Lillard, who has been stunning on offense so far. He leads all scorers in the NBA Playoffs, though the Denver Nuggets' own star, Nikola Jokic, has been toe-to-toe with him throughout.
Match Details
Fixture - Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trail Blazers | Game 4, 2021 NBA Playoffs
Date & Time - Saturday, May 29th, 4:00 PM ET (Sunday, May 30th, 1:30 AM IST)
Venue - Moda Center, Portland, OR
Denver Nuggets Preview
Thursday night's game was a brilliant showcase of NBA Playoff basketball and the Denver Nuggets continued to prove they can compete for a championship without star guard Jamal Murray. Their offense was electric, and they broke their season record of 19 made threes in a game with 20 on the night. In fact, every player bar Facundo Campazzo shot at 50% of above from beyond the arc.
After two games where both sides were easily beaten, this was more of a gritty win from the Denver Nuggets. Their guards stepped up in a big way, with Austin Rivers scoring his second-highest tally for the franchise of 21 points as he stole the show in the 4th quarter. They will need a similar all-round performance from their team if they are to return home with a comfortable 3-1 series lead.
Key Player - Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic is the Denver Nuggets cheat code in this series so far - as he has been all season. After Jusuf Nurkic fouled out in the 4th quarter, Jokic was dominant down low against the smaller Robert Covington and sealed the win with a tip-in off a missed free-throw.
Without the Serbian's array of skills, the Denver Nuggets would not be a candidate for the title. He is currently the likely winner of the NBA MVP award and is continuing to play at that level.
So far in the series, he has averaged 36 points and 11.7 rebounds. Most impressively though, he has shot at 50% from three on six attempts per game and at 57.7% from the field. He also made all eight of his free-throws on Thursday night, to bring his accuracy up to 94% across the three matchups.
Denver Nuggets Predicted Lineup
Point Guard - Facundo Campazzo | Shooting Guard - Austin Rivers | Small Forward - Michael Porter Jr. | Power Forward - Aaron Gordon | Center - Nikola Jokic
Portland Trail Blazers Preview
The Portland Trail Blazers will feel like they did enough to win on Thursday night but lost the battle through shooting accuracy. They scored three fewer wide-open threes (defender more than 6ft away) and four fewer open threes (defender 4-6ft away) in the game, which was a contributor to the tie's outcome.
As well as their scoring, the Portland Trail Blazers were also limited to just 13 free-throws, after earning 28 in Game 2, while they gave up 27 to the Denver Nuggets. Although these issues are nit-picking, the playoffs are all about fine margins and the Trail Blazers haven't played well enough on offense or defense in the last two games.
After holding the Denver Nuggets to just 109 points in Game 1, it is very difficult to win a postseason game, or even a regular season game, if you concede 120+ points as Lillard and co. did in the next two. The Portland Trail Blazers had the second-worst defensive rating in that time of any team in the playoffs and grabbed the third-fewest steals.
Key Player - Damian Lillard
If there is anybody who can carry the Portland Trail Blazers, it is Damian Lillard. The diminutive guard had another stellar campaign from the field and has continued that into the playoffs, leading all players in points per game so far with 37.7. He has shot the ball at above 43% from both the field and from three and dishes out 9.3 assists per game.
Currently, the Denver Nuggets are trialing various players on him defensively. However, he is too skillful and powerful for Facundo Campazzo and too quick for Michael Porter Jr. If the Portland Trail Blazers are going to advance and, more importantly, keep Damian Lillard for the future, they need to get the ball in his hands as much as possible.
Nuggets vs Trail Blazers Match Prediction
This series has already proven that it is extremely difficult to call which team will win each night. However, Saturday afternoon's fixture is a must-win for the Portland Trail Blazers and they have to come out locked-in and hope the Denver Nuggets' efficient scoring doesn't continue.
Jusuf Nurkic will also need to avoid foul trouble. Although he is not the most effective defender the Portland Trail Blazers have, he is an effective matchup for Nikola Jokic who they must keep quiet.
We're backing the Portland Trail Blazers to get the job done on home court and even up the series again before heading back to Denver.
Where to watch the Nuggets vs Trail Blazers matchup
Game four will be broadcast locally in America on NBC Sports Northwest and on the Altitude network. It will also be shown nationally on TNT and can be viewed live on the NBA League Pass.
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