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

1. What does this win mean for the rest of the series?

Game 3 was an emotional contest between two evenly matched division rivals. While the game itself was fun in the moment, it felt like the outcome of this game would have ramifications for the rest of the series.

Off the bat, the minutes are certainly going to have an affect on upcoming games. Both teams have a relatively quick turnaround, playing again on Sunday at 4 p.m. local time.

No Blazer starter played less than 45 minutes and most of them spent the latter half of those minutes looking gassed. At times, certain shots that players would normally make fell woefully short of the basket.

While general fatigue is a concern, you also have to wonder how this game affected players that have been nursing injuries. Enes Kanter and Maurice Harkless delivered big for their team, but they did so through excruciating pain.

This game did no favors for Kanter’s shoulder, while Harkless put plenty of miles on his sprained right ankle. We’ll see how Stotts, the training staff and the players themselves will tackle their ailments moving forward.

On the bright side, Portland managed to pull off a grueling game in front of their home crowd. That is a huge boost for the Blazers, and the seven-game series odds back that up.

Road teams that won Game 2 to tie the series 1-1 have only gone on to clinch the series 34.4 percent of the time. However, when those same teams take Game 3 at home, they go on to win the series 58.1 percent of the time.

This win spins this series’ narrative in a more positive direction for Portland. Despite being the lower seed, they are now ahead. The Blazers are the more experienced playoff team and they have another game coming up at home, a place they haven’t lost at since early March.

It’s up to the Blazers to take advantage of this goodwill in Game 4 in order to push themselves one win closer to the conference finals.