Denver Nuggets: 3 takeaways from terrific Game 4 vs. Blazers

In a down-to-the-wire battle, the Denver Nuggets evened up their second round series with the Portland Trail Blazers with a 116-112 victory in Game 4.

Heading into Game 4 of their playoff battle with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Denver Nuggets were essentially staring the fate of their season in the face. A loss would put them down 3-1 in the series, a deficit only a handful of teams have ever come back from in the history of the NBA.

Instead, Denver put forth arguably its best performance of the entire season, defeating the Blazers 116-112 to tie up the series and regain home-court advantage.

Three of the Nuggets’ five starters scored above 20 points in the win. Jamal Murray led both teams in scoring with 34 points in 37 minutes, including six clutch free throws to seal the victory. Paul Millsap poured in 21 of his own to go along with 10 rebounds, and Nikola Jokic continued his historic inaugural postseason outing with another triple-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

Al-Farouq Aminu was the breakout performer for Portland, scoring 19 points, tied for the most he’s had in any game so far in these playoffs. CJ McCollum was brilliant once again, dropping 29 points. Damian Lillard had 28 of his own but shot just 9-of-22 overall in defeat.

While Denver led for a majority of the second half, this was a game that hung in the balance until the final buzzer sounded. Portland managed to cut the lead to just one with a little over three minutes remaining until two 3-pointers by Will Barton kept the lead at a manageable distance.

The Nuggets now head back to the Pepsi Center with momentum in their back pocket and the ability to take full control of what has been an entertaining second round matchup. To go up 3-2 will take more of the same effort from Game 4, the type not many believed this team was possible of giving heading into postseason play.