NBA Playoffs 2018-19: 3 Talking points from Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver Nuggets

Final Score: Portland Trail Blazers 100 - 96 Denver Nuggets

With the series on the line in Game 7, two of the Western Conference powerhouse teams went at each other and put on a show in Denver. Even though the Nuggets started hot and entered half-time with a 9-point lead, the Blazers stormed back in the second half and went on to secure a 100-96 win.

With this win, the Blazers are going to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 19 years and will face the two-time defending NBA champions, Golden State Warriors. CJ McCollum played lights out and finished the game with 37 points (led both teams in scoring). For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic had a double-double with 29 points and 13 rebounds.

We take a look at three talking points from this epic thriller in Mile High City.

#3 Damian Lillard's forgettable performance

Damian Lillard had a game to forget last night

Damian Lillard would not love to look at the box score of this game as the guard only shot 3-for-17 from the field and finished with just 13 points. He had 0 points in the first quarter and missed all five of his shots.

After averaging 33.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game and drilling an epic game-winner from the logo to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder from the playoffs, Lillard played second fiddle to CJ McCollum and had several off-shooting nights.

In the Game 2 victory in Denver, he only shot 5-17 and scored just 14 points. However, McCollum's yet another clutch performance got them a much needed win. You should also credit Dame for letting CJ take over games late in the fourth quarter on nights the point guard could not keep it going.

#2 The Denver Nuggets' struggles from the free-throw line

When you are playing at the highest level like NBA, there is no margin for errors. You just cannot miss free-throws and lose the opportunity of scoring easy points. Last night, the Denver Nuggets only shot 28-39 from the charity stripe at a mere 71.8%.

In particular, All-Star Nikola Jokic missed a clutch free-throw in the fourth quarter that would have cut the Blazers' lead to one point with 11.4 seconds remaining. In contrast, the Blazers shot 20-24 from the free-throw line at 83.3%.

For the Nuggets, only Jamal Murray went perfect from the free-throw line converting all nine of his attempts. With 8.0 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and up by 2, Evan Turner was fouled and earned a trip to the free-throw line. He nailed both of his free-throw attempts which extended the Blazers' lead to 4 points. Those two clutch free-throws virtually knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs.

#1 CJ McCollum's clutch 4th quarter performance

CJ McCollum finished the game with 37 points

Damian Lillard had 13 points in the game on 3-17 shooting and the Portland Trail Blazers still won the game. Let that sink in! This is because of his backcourt mate CJ McCollum who made some huge plays throughout the game and was especially clutch in the fourth quarter, scoring 8 crucial points down the stretch.

He made basket after basket towards the end and scripted this epic Blazers comeback. With 11.4 sec remaining in the fourth quarter, he nailed a 16-foot pull up jumper and that was the dagger as it gave the Blazers a three-point lead.

The 27-year-old averaged 26.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game on 44.6 percentage shooting in the Western Conference Semifinals and was arguably the best player on the team. With Dame having an off-night shooting, CJ took over much like he has done for the most part of the season and took the Blazers home.