Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from Game 3 win vs. Nuggets

The Portland Trail Blazers survived a quadruple-overtime slugfest to take Game 3. Here are a few takeaways from the big win?

It was another classic game in Portland. Well, more like game-and-a-half. The Portland Trail Blazers took Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series, defeating the Denver Nuggets 140-137 in quadruple overtime on Friday night. Portland now holds a 2-1 series lead.

This marathon was the first extra-period game of the 2019 NBA Playoffs. It’s the Blazers first since Game 4 of the 2016 conference semifinals. This was also just the second quadruple-overtime game in NBA history.

The first came on March 21, 1953, Game 2 of the Eastern Division semifinals. In that matchup, the Boston Celtics outlasted the Syracuse Nationals 111-105 to win the series 2-0.

CJ McCollum led Portland with 41 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Damian Lillard chipped in 28 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Rodney Hood had 19 points off the bench.

Enes Kanter and Maurice Harkless fought through injuries to notch double-doubles. Kanter had 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Harkless had 15 points and 10 boards.

Jamal Murray led Denver in scoring with 34 points while adding nine rebounds and five assists. However, Nikola Jokic was the bigger story, coming away with a triple-double of 33 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists in 65 minutes on the floor.

Former Blazer Will Barton had 22 points off the bench.

It took 20 extra minutes, but the Blazers were able to get the job done. They have now won 12 consecutive home games dating back to the regular season, with Game 4 set for Sunday afternoon at the Moda Center. Here are three things to take away from their thrilling victory.