Blazers Aren't Making Excuses for Shoddy Game 2 Performance
A whopping 52 fouls were called in Game 2, 27 of them on the Trail Blazers. Portland was issued multiple flagrant fouls for incidents that were at least partially initiated by Denver. Despite the officials' clear overreach trying to "control" a heated playoff game, Damian LIllard clearly didn't get the whistle he wanted while putting his head down and attacking, especially in the second half.
There were factors beyond the Blazers' control that contributed to their dispiriting 128-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, basically. But instead of focusing on questionable refereeing that had the basketball world in an uproar or even decrying the outward physicality and pointed gamesmanship from the Nuggets, after the game Portland mostly elected against making excuses.
"Look, the reality is they were the more aggressive team," Terry Stotts said. "Their starters were more aggressive, their bench was more aggressive. They played much better than they did in Game 1 and they deserved to win the game. We can point to a lot of different things, but they outplayed us top to bottom...other than Dame's 40."
That's the most telling aspect of the Blazers' team-wide performance – that it came in a game Lillard erupted for one of the most jaw-dropping stretches of his career. But even his 22-point outburst in the last six minutes of the first half wasn't enough for Portland to enter intermission within double-digits of Denver on the socreboard.
If not for Lillard's singular heroics, the Blazers' 19-point losing deficit could have been much bigger.
"I said it after the first game, it's gonna be much harder to win a second game to start a playoff series," Lillard said. "They were gonna adjust, they were gonna come out and play with more energy, be more physical, and just try to bring a little more fight to us. It was as expected."
The Nuggets' physicality was impossible to miss.
Nikola Jokic made both Jusuf Nurkic and Enes Kanter look small and weak at times. Aaron Gordon's length bothered Lillard in the second half. Even irritants like Facundo Campazzo and Austin Rivers brought a sense of intentional toughness that Portland just wasn't able to match.
"We just weren't physical enough. We weren't tough enough on both sides of the ball," Norman Powell said. "We just gotta make our adjustments and come out the way they did on our home floor."
The Blazers knew what was likely coming on Monday night. Winning one road game to begin a playoff series is hard enough. And with two days off before Game 3, Portland will have plenty of time to ponder similar adjustments to its attitude and game plan that helped propel the Nuggets to decisive series-equaling victory.
"We came up short, but you know that a playoff series is one game at a time and it's gonna change each game," Lillard said. "We got the first one, they got the second one. We just gotta make our adjustments, we gotta improve and see what hurt us tonight and be ready to get a game at home in Game 3."