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DENVER – Paul Millsap scored inside while being the victim of a foul and then did something that he did not do very often.
The calm veteran, often without emotion, bowed his two arms.
After four games played by both teams practicing basketball, the Denver Nuggets followed Millsap's lead and dominated the Portland Trail Blazers 124-98 on Tuesday night to move closer to victory in the Conference final. Where is.
The Nuggets lead the series 3-2.
Millsap, the veteran of his 13-year career, set the tone early as he participated in most of this semifinal series. Millsap hit seven of his first ten shots and scored 19 of his 24 points in the first period.
"It was huge," said Denver center Nikola Jokic. "He put everything in place – physical, pace, offensive, defensive – he was really huge."
"He really plays these series really well," added Jokic after a long break. "Maybe he's activated the playoff mode."
When he did not abuse Portland's defense on the low block with a panoply of moves and runners, Millsap wounded Portland from the outside, burying a 3-pointer while being a victim of foul for a rare four point game that had pushed Denver forward to 20 just before halftime. Before the fifth match, one of the two teams had the biggest lead, 17, and Portland in the third quarter of a second match, decided by only seven points.
"They like this action with Jamal Murray and Jokic a lot," said Damian Lillard, Portland's point guard, about Millsap. "They play in the corners with Will [Barton]and Gary Harris and [Malik] Beasley … so, when everything fails, you have to protect Millsap. They'll throw it to the block, and it's a handful for guys to keep because it's in the paint, the jumpers face-up, it's 3s. In transition, you have to find it, then it's a monster on the glass. "
Indeed, Millsap went into post-season beast mode with an average of 19 points, 9.6 rebounds and 54.5% of his shots on goal against the Trail Blazers in this round. In the fifth game, Portland tried to put the Enes Kanter center early on Millsap. Kanter, a devout Muslim, fasting from sunrise to sunset every day during the next month while observing Ramadan. The Nuggets adjusted and Millsap was 5-in-5 under Kanter's protection in the first half.
Sometimes, in the third and fourth games, Portland tried to put Kanter on Millsap in order to prevent Kanter from getting stuck on Murray during a Jokic-Murray pick-and-roll at the end of the games.
"They tried a few things, to change a few things," Millsap said. "We read them fast enough, but most importantly, the guys were stuck today."
"I know that they've been trying to be a bit more physical with me these last two games against my counters," added Millsap. "For me, once they remove something and I can not intimidate them anymore, go to my wickets and trust them."
Portland did not have any answers for Millsap, there was no stop for Jokic. After consecutive double doubles, Jokic continued his playoff run with a score close to 20-20. The All-Star Serb totaled 25 points, 19 rebounds and six assists before going off in the fourth quarter with the match in hand.
Denver eventually dominated Portland 66-44 in the painting; the score margin in the painting has never exceeded eight points in any of the previous four games in the series.
Jokic has almost lost his temper after a flagrant foul. 1 push of Meyers Leonard on a drive to basket with the Nuggets up 20 with eight minutes remaining. Jokic, however, kept his cool throughout the post-season after being ejected three times during the regular season. He attributes the calm behavior of Millsap.
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"How do I look at him, he does not have any emotions," Jokic explained. "When things are not going well, he gathers us … he keeps talking with us … … he helps me a lot by observing him and just to learn from him to see how he manages situations. "
Millsap, who played his 99th game in the playoffs, was the man to which the young Nuggets were turning on the eve of the playoffs to seek advice on what they would live on.
And now, many of these young Nuggets who play in their first playoff series will look back to Millsap for advice on how to send a team back to the road for the first time in the playoffs.
The Nuggets failed to win the series in Game 6 in the first round, losing to San Antonio Spurs before having to win the seventh home game.
"It showed us what we should not do," Millsap said of the sixth game loss in Texas. "It's a lot of guys" [first] Game 6 and enter an environment like this one, shocking for a lot of guys. We will be ready. "
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