Blazers beat Nuggets 132-116, secure 6th seed for playoffs

<p>PORTLAND, Ore. &mdash; Damian Lillard had 22 points and 10 assists and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 132-116 in the regular-season finale Sunday night to secure their eighth straight playoff berth, the longest active streak in the NBA. </p>
<p>The Blazers secured the sixth seed, which means they’ll face the Nuggets in the opening round. Denver wound up with the third seed in a crazy night that saw the West’s teams in a scramble for playoff position. Denver was assured of the No. 3 seed when the Clippers fell to the Thunder.</p>
<p>CJ McCollum added 24 points, including five 3-pointers, and the Blazers avoided the play-in round. Lillard also had five 3s.</p>
<p>The Nuggets, already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, held their starters to limited minutes. Nikola Jokic had 21 points in the opening half then sat for the rest of the game. </p>
<p>Last season, the Nuggets went to the conference finals for the first time since 2009 but fell to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. </p>
<p>Coach Michael Malone had said he wouldn’t rest his starters, and indeed he did. But only Austin Rivers started the second. </p>
<p>The Blazers jumped out to a 43-22 lead in the opening quarter, making nine of 15 3-point attempts. They went up 72-55 at the half.</p>
<p>Lillard’s 3-pointer in the third quarter put Portland up 95-74. The Blazers pushed the lead to as many as 27 points. </p>
<p>The Blazers were coming off a 118-117 loss at Phoenix which snapped a five-game winning streak. Portland rebounded from a five-game losing streak last month to win nine of 11 heading into the regular-season finale. </p>
<p>The Nuggets had won three straight, capped by a 104-91 victory at Detroit. </p>
<p>Jusuf Nukic finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers. </p>
<p>TIP INS</p>
<p>Nuggets: Denver won the first two games against the Blazers this season. … Denver was without Will Barton (hamstring) and P.J. Dozier (adductor). … Malone insisted before the game he wasn’t looking ahead to the playoffs: “I haven’t spent five minutes since we got into town here worrying about who we’re playing after tonight.”</p>
<p>Trail Blazers: With a 3-pointer in the opening quarter, Lillard snapped his own franchise record for made 3-pointers in a season (270). … Lillard had scored 30 or more points in his last seven games, the longest stretch of his career.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>The Blazers face the Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs. </p>
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