NBA PLAYOFFS, FIRST ROUND, GAME 5
Portland Trail Blazers at Denver Nuggets
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Time: Monday, 7:30 p.m. PT
TV: TNT
Radio: Rip City Radio 620 AM
Live streaming: NBA playoff games can be streamed live with a subscription to the following services: Hulu + Live TV (does not include NBA TV), Playstation Vue (not all plans include NBA TV), DirecTV Now (not all plans include NBA TV), Sling TV (NBA TV is available as an add-on), fuboTV (does not include ESPN), and YouTube TV; the NBA won't be airing any playoff games live on NBA League Pass because all the games will air on national television, but subscribers will have access to the games in the NBA League Pass archive three hours after the games end (subscription required; local games and nationally televised games are blacked out).
Odds: Nuggets favored by 4, over/under set at 215.5
Live updates
Series schedule
All times Pacific; x=if necessary
No. 3 Portland Trail Blazers vs. No. 2 Denver Nuggets
Game 1 (at DEN): Monday, 7:30 p.m., TNT
Game 2 (at DEN): Wednesday, 6 p.m., TNT
Game 3 (at POR): Friday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Game 4 (at POR): Sunday, May 5, 4 p.m., TNT
x-Game 5 (at DEN): Tuesday, May 7, time TBD, TNT
x-Game 6 (at POR): Thursday, May 9, time TBD, ESPN
x-Game 7 (at DEN): Sunday, May 12, time TBD, TV TBD
About the Nuggets
A key player in this series will be Denver's 6-foot-4 shooting guard Gary Harris. He's the Nuggets' best perimeter defender and will likely draw the defensive assignment against Damian Lillard. For what it's worth, Lillard struggled in four games against the Nuggets this season, averaging 21.3 points on 37.1% shooting. In the first-round series against the Thunder, Lillard averaged 14.7 points and shot 48.7% from the field and 46.7% from the 3-point line. ... Denver center Nikola Jokic (7-0, 250 pounds) averaged 23.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 9.1 assists in the first round against the Spurs. In three regular-season games against the Blazers this season, Jokic averaged 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 8.0 assists and shots 62% from the field and 38.5% from the 3-point line. ... Nuggets 6-4 point guard Jamal Murray is Denver's second-leading scorer. He averaged 19.0 points and shot 34.3% from the 3-point line in the first round against San Antonio. ... In the playoffs, the Nuggets rank third out of 16 teams in offensive rating (113.1 points per 100 possessions), 11th in defensive rating (110.7 points per 100) and eighth in net rating (+2.3 points per 100).
MORE BLAZERS COVERAGE FROM KGW
About the Trail Blazers
The status of Portland starting center Enes Kanter (6-11, 250) remains up in the air. He is listed as the probable starter in the game notes sent out by the Blazers on Monday morning, but he's officially listed as questionable with a separated left shoulder, and he told Casey Holdahl on Monday morning that he's still in a lot of pain and doesn't know if he'll play in Game 1. Kanter averaged 13.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and shot 57.4% from the field in the first-round series against the Thunder. ... Trail Blazers 6-3 point guard Damian Lillard averaged 33.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 steals and shot 46.1% from the field and 48.1% from the 3-point line in the first round against Oklahoma City. He is the second-leading scorer in the playoffs, behind Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35.0 points per game). ... Portland 6-3 shooting guard CJ McCollum had a strong first-round series against the Thunder, averaging 24.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and shooting 45.5% from the field and 44.7% from the 3-point line. ... In the playoffs, the Blazers rank eight in offensive rating (109.9 points per 100 possessions), sixth in defensive rating (104.4 points per 100) and seventh in net rating (+5.5 points per 100).
Injury Report
Nuggets: OUT: Michael Porter Jr. (lower back surgery)
Blazers: OUT: Jusuf Nurkic (left leg); QUESTIONABLE: Enes Kanter (left shoulder)
3-on-3 Blazers podcast
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Jared Cowley writes about the Trail Blazers and other topics for KGW.com. He's also the co-host of the 3-on-3 Blazers podcast (listen here). You can reach him on Twitter @jaredcowley.