Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver – 2021 NBA Playoffs Round 1 – Game Times, TV, More
Ed Stein
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The 2021 NBA Playoffs begin on Thursday night. For the second time in three seasons, the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets meet in the postseason.
Western Conference Round 1 – 3rd seed Denver Nuggets (47-35) vs. 6th seed Portland Trail Blazers (42-30).
Series Schedule
Game 1: Saturday, May 22 at Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado – Win.
Game 2: Monday, May 24 at Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado – Loss.
Game 3: Thursday, May 25 – Moda Center, Portland, Oregon – Loss.
Game 4: Saturday, May 29 Moda Center, Portland, Oregon – Win.
Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 1 at Ball Arena, Denver, Co. – TV: NBA Network & NBC Sports Northwest, 6:00 PM PDT.
Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, June 3 Moda Center, Portland, Oregon – TBD.
Game 7 (if necessary): Friday, June 5 at Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado – TBD.
Injuries
Portland: Zach Collins (ankle) won’t play in this series.
Denver: Jamal Murray is out for the year after an ACL tear in his left knee. Will Barton (hamstring) says he will be back for this series but will miss Game 1. PJ Dozier (adductor) will miss this series. The Nuggets list Austin Rivers as questionable for Game 1 with a non-COVID illness.
Series Odds
Portland: -115, Denver -105 (Bovada)
2020-21 Regular Season Series
Denver – 2, Portland – 1.
Regular Season Team Leaders (per game)
- Points: Portland – Damian Lillard 28.8, Denver – Nikola Jokic 26.4.
- Rebounds: Portland – Enes Kanter 11.0, Denver – Jokic 10.8.
- Assists: Portland – Lillard 7.5, Denver – Jokic 8.6.
- Steals: Portland – Robert Covington 1.4, Denver – Jokic 1.3.
- Blocks: Portland – Covington 1.2, Denver – Michael Porter 0.9.
- Turnovers: Portland – Lillard 3.0, Denver – Jokic 3.1.
- 3-point shooting percentage: Portland – Carmelo Anthony 40.9, Denver – Porter 44.5.
Trends
After an April slide, the Portland Trail Blazers finished the regular season by winning 10 of their final 12 games. They scored over 120 points seven times in that stretch and gave up over 120, just twice. Since Norman Powell joined the team at the deadline, he averages 17 points per game, shoots 36.1 percent from behind the arc, and the Blazers are 16-12.
One would think after losing a player the quality of Jamal Murray, his team would hit the skids. Instead, Denver went 13-4. Nikola Jokic had his best year in every statistical category, finishing with 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. After Murray went out, the 6-11 center upped his per game scoring average from 25.5 to 26.9.
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We like the Portland Trail Blazers to win the series 4-2. How do you see it going down? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.