The first NBA playoff game Tuesday night wasn’t much of a contest, with the Brooklyn Nets thumping the Boston Celtics 123-109 to claim that series, but one of the later games more than made up for that. Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series between the sixth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers and the third-seeded Denver Nuggets (who were tied 2-2 heading into this game) proved an excellent contest, with Denver taking a 38-25 lead by the end of the first quarter but Portland rallying back to cut the lead to 65-62 at the half. And the last seconds of regulation had a notable highlight of their own, with Blazers’ guard Damian Lillard draining a long three to send the game to overtime:
DAME TIME TO FORCE OVERTIME! 🤯@Dame_Lillard launches from distance to send Blazers/Nuggets Game 5 to overtime on NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/slDNXhEstW
— NBA (@NBA) June 2, 2021
That led to not one, but two, overtime periods. And it only went to two because of another great Lillard shot at the end of the first overtime (pictured above):
🚨 DAME DOES IT AGAIN!! ARE YOU KIDDING!!??
LILLARD BURIES IT TO GET TO 50 POINTS AND FORCE DOUBLE OT ON NBA TV! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/z4fnJXSRGE
— NBA (@NBA) June 2, 2021
In the end, a three-pointer from Michael Porter Jr. that put the Nuggets up 143-140 with 1:33 left in the second overtime proved decisive. The Blazers weren’t able to score after that, with Norm Powell missing a three, Robert Covington missing from in close, and C.J. McCollum committing a late turnover. But it was still remarkable that they pushed it this far, and the two big shots from Lillard (who had 55 points on the night on 17-of-24 shooting, including 12 of 17 makes from three-point range) were key to that.
[NBA.com; photo from Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports]
