The Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Denver Nuggets on a Tuesday night, in a huge game for both sides. Both the Blazers and the Nuggets are hoping to make it to the Western Conference playoffs this season, and with only 9 games left in the season, this was a great opportunity for both sides to come closer to that eighth spot. Moda Center in downtown Portland was sold out once again, with 20,000 Trail Blazer fans ready to carry their team to a big win.
Nurkic came up big against his former team
It was also a big game for former Nuggets player, Jusuf Nurkic, who was traded to Portland in February in a trade that sent Mason Plumlee to Denver.
Nurkic was obviously highly motivated as he scored a career high 33 points, to go along with 16 big rebounds in a 122-113 Portland win. Twenty thousand fans at Moda Center chanted his name, in what felt like a playoff atmosphere game, as he dominated the Nuggets frontcourt led by Nikola Jokic who scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out eight assists. Veteran point guard Jameer Nelson led the Nuggets in scoring with 23 points but it was not enough.
McCollum on fire
For the Blazers, CJ McCollum was also red hot, scoring a game high 39 points (15-24 from the field) including three three pointers. "I felt good tonight and had a bounce in my step" said McCollum in a post game interview.
Terry Stotts, head coach for the Trail Blazers also added, "It was a really good game, and I'm happy that we won. I liked how we approached the game defensively in the second half. Obviously Jusuf and CJ had outstanding games from the begining until the end and I'm glad that we were able to come out with a win."
Stotts hopes that his team can carry this momentum for the rest of the regular season and move up the ladder in the Western Conference standings.
With this win, Portland is now in the final eighth spot in the Western Conference, one game ahead of Denver.
After the game was over, in an on-court postgame interview, Nurkic had a little message for his former team that traded him to Portland: "I wish those guys a happy summer!"
