The other half of the Western Conference bracket of the 2019 NBA Playoffs is set, as the Portland Trail Blazers eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder at the buzzer in five games, and that was followed four days later by the Denver Nuggets eliminating the San Antonio Spurs in the lone Game 7 of the first round.
And now the top two teams in the Northwest Division square off in the undercard of the Western Conference Semifinals.
The prediction is listed via the bullet point below:
- #3 Portland Trail Blazers Vs. #2 Denver Nuggets-During the regular season, the Nuggets were occasionally the best team in the Western Conference, along with boasting the league’s best home record (34-7) this season. Plus, they have the best passing center since Vlade Divac in Nikola Jokic, the latter of whom had a triple double in Game 7 against the Spurs. The Trail Blazers are stuck in between a rock and a hard place, as Jusuf Nurkic is out for the rest of this season and Enes Kanter is questionable with a reported partial separated shoulder. However, the Blazers have the best player going in the 2019 Playoffs in Damian Lillard. And given his amazing ability to dominate games, he’ll be a nightmare for anyone in a Nuggets uniform. So with that being said, I have the Trail Blazers taking it in six games to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.