The Portland Trail Blazers have advanced to the Western Conference finals, thanks to a 100-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their second-round series. This is their first WCF appearance since 2000.
Early on, it appeared the Nuggets were going to run the Trail Blazers out of the gym. They were up by 12 at the end of the first quarter, and extended that lead to 17 points in the second. But the Blazers used a nice run at the end of the half to cut the deficit to nine points. It not only made things more manageable, but gave them plenty of positive momentum.
They continued their comeback in the third quarter, getting right back into the game behind CJ McCollum, who was fantastic all night. When McCollum hit a jumper late in the quarter, it gave the Blazers their first lead of the game.
From there, the fourth quarter was a wild, back-and-forth affair as the two teams traded big baskets time and again. In the closing seconds, McCollum hit a step-back jumper to give the Blazers a three-point lead, and after some free throws on each side that was the game.
McCollum finished with 37 points and nine rebounds to lead the Blazers, while Nikola Jokic went for 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Recap Game 7 updates
