Will Barton will bring the hammer on Mother’s Day, by Thor, if he has to. But given a choice, rsquo;d & he prefer not to. Heck, they would.
“The 1 thing I think I can say is, this time, we don’t want to return here,” Barton, the Nuggets guard, said when asked about the possibility of Denver needing to go the full seven games to close out the Portland Trail Blazers “Just (be) focused on finishing them off in Game 6, just trying to not look ahead, not think about how ‘We’ve got Game 7 at our construction. ’”
Which brings us to Lesson No. 1 from two weeks earlier: If you presume safety in Game 7 at exactly the same time you’re attempting to browse Game 6 on the road, you’re asking for a world of hurt in the latter.
Or, to put it another way, San Antonio 120, Denver 103.
Which is what happened the last time the Nuggets had a opportunity to put a bow on a series at a Game 6 away from home coming on the heels of an impressive, momentum-snatching victory in the Pepsi Center.
Game 5 then: Nuggets 108, Spurs 90.
Game 5 late Tuesday: Nuggets 124, Trail Blazers 98.
Game 6 Spurs 120, Nuggets 103.
Game 6 late Thursday: Oy vey!
“We want to go there with the mentality to win a ball game,” said Barton, who chipped in 10 points, three rebounds and two assists on the bench in Game 5. “And shut this thing out. ”
Barton wasn’t sure where the Nuggets’ mentality was in the AT&T Center at Game 6 of Denver’s opening-round series, which the Spurs evened in three wins a bit to force a Game 7 back on Chopper Circle. Veteran forward Paul Milsap isn’t sure, possibly to say he doesn’t expect it to happen lsquo & another time .
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“(Game 6 at San Antonio) showed us what not to do,” said Millsap, whose 24 points and eight boards Tuesday helped the Nuggets take a 3-2 series lead. “I think being a lot of men ’ (first) Game 6 and moving into an environment like that, (it) was shocking for a lot of guys.
“We’re ready for it this time around. I think we’ll be prepared. ”
The Blazers, currently needing two wins to stave off elimination, said they would be, too.
“We don’t feel as though we’ve played our best basketball yet,” noticed Blazers star Damian Lillard, who netted 22 points in Game 5 but connected on just 2 of 9 treys and whiffed on three of five free-throw tries.
“And with our back against the wall, we don’t have a choice. Our mindset is just, ‘Get the next one, take care of home, and make it back here. ’”
Game 7, if necessary, would be slated for Sunday at the Pepsi Center.
“We know we’re capable of winning (in Denver) against this group,” additional Portland small forward Maurice Harkless, who finished with five points Tuesday. “So we just have to concentrate on Thursday and come into the game with the mindset of, ‘We are playing for our season. ’”
Expect desperation. Expect noise. The Nuggets have dropped 11 of their last 14 trips to the Moda Center dating back to November 2013, although Denver won Game 4 at Portland to even the series at 2-2, in the same way the Nuggets had done in San Antonio during the first round.
Game 6 in the AT&T Center, however, was a different kettle of fish: The Nuggets took their foot off the gas late and never got it back on the pedal again as the Spurs outscored them 30-18 at the fourth period en route to a 17-point victory.
“We had our chances (in San Antonio),” Nuggets center Nikola Jokic said. “We just kind of rsquo & didn . ”
Expect tension. Anticipate chippiness, also, after the salty little brouhaha that transpired among the trio of Jokic and Portland book bigs Zach Collins and Myles Leonard with eight minutes left in Game 5 and the hosts up 100-80.
“We’re tired of looking at them,” Millsap confessed with a grin. “I’m sure they’re tired of looking at us, tired of the scouts, tired of all of it. But with that, we know that they’re fighting for their lives. We know that it’s going to be a war. We&rsquo. ”
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice …
“We won’t let it,” Millsap vowed. “We’ll be fine. ”
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