Recap: Blazers Miss At Buzzer, Lose to Nuggets 113-112

The Portland Trail Blazers fell behind early and played “catch-up” all night against the Denver Nuggets. The finally tied it up in the final minute, forced a Nuggets turnover... then CJ McCollum missed an open mid-range jumper at the buzzer. Portland came up one point short, 113-112.

Here are a few essentials.

• Apparently Nuggets can melt. Denver suffered an amazing meltdown in the final quarter, almost handing the game to the Blazers at a couple opportunities, including stepping out of bounds with 6 seconds left. But Portland just couldn’t finish the job tonight.
• It was the best of times, worst of times, for Aminu. Al-Farouq struggled in the first half, never leaving the bench in the second quarter. In the second half, he scored on several big drives, while also air-balling a three-pointer. A night of ups and downs.
• CJ McCollum takes control. Lillard’s back-court partner took the lead tonight, coming up huge in the fourth quarter, including two shots to tie the game in the final minute. But he missed the last one, and that’s what’ll be remembered.
• Replays galore. Late in the fourth, multiple incidents led to replays, including a Mason Plumlee “goaltend” that was looked inconclusive on replay, and was thus upheld, followed by two consecutive back-court out-of-bounds calls against Denver with less than 10 seconds left.

Box Score

What’s Next

The Blazers pick things up Sunday night, against the fading LaMarcus Aldridge and the reeling San Antonio Spurs.