The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 115-95 by a resounding 115-95 and tied 2-2 in this Western Conference tie.
On a very gray night for the Nuggets, including their star Nikola Jokic, Carmelo Anthony was able to celebrate his 37th birthday in front of his fans at the Moda Center in Portland.
The Blazers forward, who this month surpassed Elvin Hayes as the 10th highest scorer in history, had 12 points and 5 rebounds off the bench and lit up the stands with the two triples he scored.
Portland had a 33-point lead without needing a great night from their leader, Damian Lillard, with 10 points and 10 assists.
An inspired Norman Powell, with 29 points on 11/15 shooting, led the offense alongside CJ McCollum (21 points) and Jusuf Nurkic (17).
“The plan was to do a full 48-minute effort,” Powell said. “The goal is to keep competing hard.”
The Blazers dominated 57-47 at halftime and took the final lead with a 36-19 run in the third quarter.
Jokic had his weakest game in a long time with 16 points and 9 rebounds and young Michael Porter Jr. stayed at 3 points.
Argentine guard Facundo Campazzo could not activate his teammates either and finished with 12 points (3/10) and 7 assists in 27 minutes.
The Nuggets will try to regain the lead in Game 5 of the series on Tuesday in Denver. (GG) (AFP)