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Portland had too many weapons. Jusuf Nurkic was a problem in the first half (15 points and 17 rebounds before half-time). Damian Lillard was his own bubble MVP, with 31 points and 10 assists.

But when the Trail Blazers needed buckets in the fourth quarter to come back and then keep the Grizzlies at bay, it was CJ McCollum with some late threes.

CJ took over the 4th QTR???? pic.twitter.com/Mm1c2cp0U6

– NBA TV (@NBATV) August 15, 2020

Carmelo Anthony throws in a dagger three and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 126-122 to take the game and win this mini-series.

Portland will face the Lakers on Tuesday night in the first game of their series. Memphis is on his way home.

If the Grizzlies had won this game – and came incredibly close behind Rookie of the Year’s 35 points and eight assists for being Ja Morant – the two teams would have played in a second play-in game on Sunday, and that would have been the winner takes it all.

“I was thinking I don’t want to play again tomorrow,” McCollum said when asked after the game what he was thinking with those three keys. “We were supposed to do it tonight, get out and make sure we finished them.”

Before the match, Nurkic announced on Instagram that her grandmother, who lives in her native Bosnia, had died of COVID-19.

Nurkic came out with a heavy heart and set up a first half of clinic. Memphis followed the defensive strategy that each team has used against Portland for years, trapping Lillard (and sometimes McCollum) at the top, taking the ball from their hands, and challenging anyone else to beat them. Nurkic did it. He finished the game with 22 points from 8 shots out of 14, plus 21 rebounds.

Portland had taken a 16-point lead in the first quarter behind Nurkick, but Memphis recovered in the second quarter when he attacked Anthony and Hassan Whiteside in the pick-and-roll.

Portland went under the picks and gave Morant space to shoot in the first half and it worked, the rookie struggled to find his consistently shot or offensive groove. In the second half he began to take advantage of the space he had been given to attack and set off downhill, and the result was 24 points and 10 assists in the second half alone.

Portland also lost by four Zach Collins in the second half due to an ankle inflammation, which propelled newcomer Wenyen Gabriel into a bigger role.

He was almost late and when Memphis switched his best perimeter defender (Dillon Brooks) to McCollum, the Trail Blazers gave the ball to the bubble MVP. Not only did he score, he got the reading right – and Carmelo stuck the dagger into Grizzlies’ playoff dreams.

Simply simple enough, he equalized in defense and found Melo for wide open corner three. pic.twitter.com/m3KDxdwW6z

– Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) August 15, 2020

Memphis may not have gotten the win, but they’ve gotten great nights from three of their young stars: Morant, Brooks (20 points and a quality defense) and Brandon Clarke (20 points). The fact that they have pushed an experienced and veteran team into a playoff context bodes well for them in the next season and the future.

Portland, finally healthy, looks like the team of 53 wins a season ago that reached the conference finals.

Overtaking LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers in the first round may prove to be too big a mountain to climb, but this is a team more ready to do so than any other contender for the eighth seed. Portland will not be a challenge, the Lakers will shoot better than they did in the bubble and will be more focused on advancing.

If the Lakers aren’t ready, we know what Lillard and company can do.