NBA Playoffs: One thing to watch for each Game 7 participant

Does Terry Stotts continue to increase minutes for Rodney Hood and Zach Collins?

As the Portland Trail Blazers–Denver Nuggets series has progressed, two players outside of the Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum partnership have stood out for the Blazers. Rodney Hood and Zach Collins have been role players all season and for most of the postseason, but these two have been monsters against Denver and are better suited to take on the Nuggets.

Hood has become the third scorer next to CJ and Dame that has been missing in past postseasons. The fifth-year guard is averaging 16.2 points per game in this series while shooting a ridiculous 60.4 from the field and 57.9 percent on 3.2 3-point attempts per game.

Hood has posted up against Jamal Murray in the post, run off screens, made fadeaways and pull-up jumpers. He’s also seen a deserving uptick in minutes as this series deepens with his scoring repertoire on display in the final minutes of the four-overtime thriller in Game 3.

Zach Collins isn’t scoring a great deal (9.0 points per game), but it’s everything else he does that should have him playing above starting center Enes Kanter. Collins is a great athlete that can move his feet on the perimeter defensively and protect the rim, two things Kanter isn’t exactly phenomenal at.

Offensively, he does a better job at spacing the floor and is a threat attacking the basket on pick-and-rolls. His ability to impact the game without touches opens the door for Dame and CJ to operate with more space offensively and have suitable cover in the paint defensively, and he boasts a team-high 10.8 net rating this series.

Collins and Hood weren’t this consistent in the regular season, but none of that matters in the playoffs. Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless are both shooting under 24.0 percent from 3-point range this series and are taking their turns getting manhandled by Nikola Jokic and/or Paul Millsap in the paint and on the glass. A Kanter/Collins frontcourt isn’t as mobile, but at least they offer resistance on the boards and interior defense.

When Collins and Hood share the floor, Denver has shot a terrible 36.8 percent from the field. Yes, they’ve been matched up against Denver’s horrid bench, but it’s clear playing the better defensive players is paying off for Portland. This defense is a bonus to their offensive firepower. They just haven’t been utilized enough throughout the series with Aminu still averaging 30.3 minutes per game.

We can expect Dame and CJ to do their usual dancing and difficult shot making. At what clip they do remains to be seen, but they need help on the offensive end in spacing and shotmaking. Hood and Collins offer that, and Terry Stotts shouldn’t hesitate to pull the ineffective Harkless, Aminu or Kanter with a Conference Finals berth on the line.