The Portland Trail Blazers' Game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets was physical not just on the court -- but off of it as well.
As the Blazers were on their way to a 97-90 victory at Pepsi Center on Wednesday night to even the series up at one game apiece, things got really physical. A scuffle erupted between the two teams after Blazers center Enes Kanter collided with Nuggets wing Torrey Craig.
The reason why there was such a hoopla over what seemed to be an innocent collision is because Craig suffered a nasal contusion earlier in the game. Not only did he exit the game while bleeding profusely, but he also later returned wearing a protective plastic mask.
So when Craig was seen on the ground after Kanter had ran over him, it wasn't surprising that Nuggets guard Jamal Murray immediately jumped to Craig's defense, considering what happened earlier in the night.
As you can see in the clip below, Kanter was actually shoved into Craig by the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic -- which Murray clearly did not see as he initiates an altercation with Kanter following the play.
Neither player was ejected as they were assessed their first technical fouls of the game with 43.5 seconds remaining.
And as mentioned earlier, the fighting didn't just take place on the court -- it also happened in the stands at Pepsi Center.
At least three fans have been escorted out by cops for fighting or throwing things. Other than that, things are going swimmingly at Pepsi Center.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 2, 2019
So there have been two fights in the crowd, fans are throwing things onto the court, Murray and Kanter getting into it, and Craig potentially broke his nose tonight.
What a night at the Pepsi Center.
— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) May 2, 2019
Pepsi Center isn't exactly known for having raucous NBA fans, but there is no doubt the emotions from the game carried over into the stands as at least three fans were reportedly ejected for fighting and throwing things.
In Game 2, both teams got very physical with one another -- more so than during the Nuggets' 121-113 victory in Game 1.
Whereas Jokic erupted for 39 points and Damian Lillard scored 37 points in the opening game of the series, the Nuggets big man struggled on his way to just 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting while Lillard was just 5-of-17 shooting for 14 points. The Blazers as a team converted on just 42.4 percent of their field-goal attempts while Portland converted on just 31.0 percent of their 3-point attempts. The Nuggets were even worse on 34.7 percent shooting and 20.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Considering these two teams are neck-and-neck as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds and the fact that they're divisional rivals, one might expect things to escalate even further as this series progresses.
