The Portland Trail Blazers (54-28) needed one victory to clinch home court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs, and got it in a big way rolling over the Denver Nuggets (54-28) 104-76 in front of 20,652 enthusiastic fans at the Rose Garden Wednesday night.
The Trail Blazers will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2003 as the Western Conference’s fourth seed, hosting the Houston Rockets. With the victory Portland also became co-champions of the Northwest Division, finishing in a tie with the Nuggets.
The Trail Blazers came out strong Wednesday, going up 16-7 on a three-pointer from Nicolas Batum with 6:14 left in the opening quarter. Batum returned to the starting lineup, after missing Monday night’s game with flu-like symptoms. Denver responded to Portland’s early charge, outscoring the home team 15-7 to close the first quarter. Kenyon Martin dunked home an offensive rebound with 8.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter closing the gap to 23-22 in favor of the Trail Blazers after 12 minutes.
Portland put on an offensive show in the second quarter, creating some separation from the Nuggets. A steal by Rudy Fernandez with 7:47 left in first half led to a Travis Outlaw dunk, giving the Trail Blazers a 39-25 lead. Portland pushed their lead to 51-32 on a 19-footer from Channing Frye with 1:37 left in the second quarter. Frye also converted a driving lay-up with 27.9 seconds left in the opening half, giving the home team a 53-34 lead at the break.
“Our bench was unbelievable tonight,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “The bench came in and gave us a lift and basically took control of the game.”
Outlaw finished the first half with nine points, as did Fernandez who connected on 3-of-5 three-point attempts, to lead the Trail Blazers. Frye added seven points in the opening half.
The Nuggets made a push in the third quarter, trying to get back in the game. JR Smith hit a 21-foot jump shot with 2:23 remaining in the second to last quarter of the evening, cutting Portland’s lead to 63-58. It was the closest the visiting team would get. The Trail Blazers closed the third quarter on an 8-2 scoring run, capped off by four straight points from Outlaw, to enter the final quarter of the night with a 71-60 lead.
The only drama remaining in the final quarter of the night was whether or not Fernandez would break Kerry Kittles’s record for most three-pointers in a season by a rookie. The Spaniard came into the game needing five threes to tie the record and six to claim it. Fernandez hit his fifth deep ball with 8:13 remaining in the game, giving the Trail Blazers an 85-62 lead. Fernandez took the record a little over two minutes later, hitting a 23-footer on a feed from Sergio Rodriguez.
Fernandez finished the game hitting 6-of-9 from downtown giving him 159 triples for the season.
Outlaw led all scorers with 21 points on the evening, Fernandez contributed 18 points, Frye added 12 points, and Greg Oden finished with 10 points. The Trail Blazers got 72 points from the bench. Rodriguez collected a new career high with 12 assists.
Portland’s second season starts this coming weekend against the Rockets at the Rose Garden.
NATE MCMILLAN
“I’m so happy for this group of guys. They’ve worked so hard from the start to the finish to end up as co-champions in our division. Tonight, we were playing for a lot of things---the homecourt advantage in the playoffs, a piece of the division title, and most of all to keep our rhythm the way we’ve been playing the last several weeks.
“As for the playoffs, frankly we didn’t care who we play. You’ve got to get there first. And now that we’re there for the second season (the playoffs), we’re playing for the championship. But first, we have to win four games to win the series with the homecourt advantage.
“Houston is a really tough team. With Yao they’re really tough in the post and they have good defenders in Battier and Artest. They’re a tough matchup but we’ve played them well even though they do play both ends of the court (well). I think we’re much improved over the team that beat them early in the year on Brandon’s miracle shot at the buzzer.
“We’re pretty healthy going in. I guess most teams want to face us because of our youth. But we play hard and have played the right way all season long. Frankly this is what I envisioned when I came here. This is the kind of success I hope we would get and give Portland and the Oregon community something they can be proud of. This is a tribute to Mr. Allen, Kevin (Pritchard) and his staff, the coaching staff and the players. Its what we wanted to do. This was our dream and we’re still living it.”
• Portland earned at least a share of the divisional crown for the fifth time in franchise history (2008-09 marks the first tie) ... Three of the past four times Portland won its division the team reached the Western Conference Finals.
• The Trail Blazers (fourth seed) will host the Houston Rockets (fifth seed) in the first round of the NBA playoffs, with Game 1 set for either Saturday or Sunday at the Rose Garden ... Houston won this season’s series, 2-1, with the home team winning all three games ... The Rockets are one of three Western Conference teams and five teams overall to win the season series against Portland this year.
• Portland’s trip to the playoffs will be its first since 2003, ending the longest-active drought in the NBA and longest in franchise history … Joel Przybilla and Raef LaFrentz were the only current Trail Blazers in the NBA the last time Portland made the postseason.
• The Trail Blazers’ 35 games and 489 minutes of playoff experience among active players will be the fewest for a team in the postseason since the 1996-97 L.A. Clippers … According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Portland is the first team in NBA history to win 50 games with four rookies appearing in 50-plus contests.
• Since joining the NBA in 1970-71, Portland’s 27th postseason appearances will be tied for third-most in the NBA in 39 seasons, trailing only the L.A. Lakers (35) and San Antonio Spurs (29).
• Portland finished the year a season-high 26 games above .500 at 54-28, the best record by a Trail Blazers team since 1999-2000 (59-23) and the sixth-best mark, all-time.
• Portland’s 34-7 home mark is fourth-best in the NBA this year and its best home record since 1990-91 (36-5).
• The 2008-09 Trail Blazers are just the second team in franchise history to win their last six regular season games, only equaled by Portland’s 1976-77 NBA Championship team.
• Portland won 10 of its last 11 games, including six by 20-plus points … The Trail Blazers have won by 20-plus points 13 times this year after winning by 20 or more points four times a season ago ... Portland led the league with five wins by 30 points or more after posting just one 30-point win in the past six seasons combined.
• Rudy Fernandez broke the rookie record for three-pointers made in a season by a rookie in NBA history with 159 (158, Kerry Kittles) … He ranks third in franchise history for three-pointers made in a season … Fernandez made at least one three-pointer in all 38 of his games at the Rose Garden ... His six three-pointers tonight marked a career best.
• Portland did not lose at home against Northwest Division foes this season (8-0).
• The Trail Blazers finished the season 26-0 when leading at halftime at the Rose Garden.
• Joel Przybilla appeared in all 82 games for the first time in his career and was Portland’s only player to see action in every regular season game … Przybilla is one of five centers in the NBA to see the floor in all 82 games.
• Sergio Rodriguez passed out a career-high 12 assists, including eight in the fourth quarter.
• Portland’s bench outscored Nuggets reserves, 72-27, setting season highs for bench points and bench margin ... The Trail Blazers’ top four scorers came off the bench.
• Portland’s 13 three-pointers (of 22) were one shy of a season best.
• Denver’s 12 points in the second quarter marked a season low by a Trail Blazers opponent.
• The Trail Blazers went on a 23-4 run to begin the fourth quarter.
• Portland had two unanswered runs of 10-plus points in the second quarter alone, 12-0 to begin the period and 10-0 from the 5:50 mark to the 1:37 mark.
