Portland Trail Blazers (42-30, sixth in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Denver Nuggets (47-25, third in the Western Conference during the regular season)
Denver; Monday, 10 p.m. EDT
LINE: Trail Blazers -1; over/under is 228.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Trail Blazers lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Portland Trail Blazers visit the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference first round with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Trail Blazers won the last meeting 123-109. Damian Lillard scored 34 points to lead Portland to the win and Nikola Jokic scored 34 points in the loss for Denver.
The Nuggets are 9-3 against the rest of their division. Denver is 46-20 in games when scoring 100 or more points.
The Trail Blazers are 6-6 against the rest of their division. Portland is fifth in the Western Conference with 44.5 rebounds per game led by Enes Kanter averaging 11.0.
TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Porter Jr. leads the Nuggets averaging 2.8 made 3-pointers, and is scoring 19 points per game while shooting 44.5% from beyond the arc. Jokic is averaging 28.3 points, 11 rebounds and 6.1 assists over the last 10 games for Denver.
Lillard is averaging 28.8 points and 7.5 assists for the Trail Blazers. CJ McCollum is averaging 23.7 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 46.3% over the last 10 games for Portland.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 5-5, averaging 111.1 points, 44.3 rebounds, 25 assists, 7.6 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.7 points on 46.6% shooting.
Trail Blazers: 8-2, averaging 123.1 points, 44.5 rebounds, 24.7 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 49.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112 points on 45.5% shooting.
INJURIES: Nuggets: Austin Rivers: day to day (illness), PJ Dozier: out (adductor), Jamal Murray: out for season (knee), Will Barton: out (hamstring).
Trail Blazers: Zach Collins: out for season (ankle).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by
