NBA. Facundo Campazzo: his first victory in the playoffs, a rough duel against Lillard and the assistance of pipe to McCollum

Had to improve Denver Nuggets, after two discrete losses against Portland, at the close of the regular stage, first, and at the start of the playoffs. The team of Facundo Campazzo took the first step: equalize the series so as not to be too soon on the ropes. Last night won the Ball Arena by 128-109But it is clear that the Trail Blazers are not going to be an easy rival for the Colorado franchise far from it. The Oregon team may have lost Game 2, but it made the Nuggets sweat quite a bit.

Again Campazzo was part of the starting five, along with Austin Rivers, Michael Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic. The Cordoba finished with 12 points (2/4 in triples, 2/6 in doubles and 2/2 in free), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, a block and 3 losses. Again the Argentine showed his defensive deployment, with a high sacrifice quota, but clearly he lost the duel with Damian Lillard, unstoppable especially in the second quarter. The Portland guard scored 42 points, with a 9/16 mark on 3s, 5 of them against Campazzo, who at some point was frustrated by not being able to stop the gale. According to All Star, Lillard supported the Oregon franchise for as long as he could.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIRyNLy7Mac

Campazzo’s start was very good, with a double on a layup as soon as the game started, and a triple that he celebrated with a shout for Denver to get 17-7 in the fourth minute. Mike Malone’s team started with aggressive defense, very intense play, and dynamic attack. That start to pure energy, with an unstoppable Jokic too, was enough to dominate the first quarter. But Portland began to draw closer as Lillard put the team on his shoulder.

Denver made the name swap early in the second quarter and managed to keep their distance; Lillard came back in and started his show, with 22 points and 8 triples (one almost from midfield) in that quarter alone. Campazzo tried to stop him and was visibly snubbed in a pair of triples; neither could Rivers nor Monte Morris with the Portland guard on fire. Anyway, Denver managed to close that passage well with Shaquille Harrison’s defensive tackle on the demonic LIllard, and a bombshell from Jokic managed to preserve a 73-61 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Denver adjusted the defense again; Aaron Gordon dedicated himself to Lillard’s brand and managed to turn off the clean and jerk, and Campazzo appeared with a play from his label: robbery on the start and counterattack with double on tray to leave the Nuggets up fifteen (81-66). And shortly after came another of the outstanding actions of the night: in a replay play, Campazzo faced CJ McCollum; The Argentine fell on his back after a brush with the shoulder of his rival, who was charged a flagrant foul. Two free in the pocket to leave Denver up fifteen again (89-74), in a hot stretch of the duel, very physical and locked.

With a good margin, Denver’s second unit finished the game, with contributions from Morris, Harrison, Millsap and Green for the local to escape by twenty (114-94). For the closing, Campazzo signed a luxury of his stamp: assistance between McCollum’s legs to leave Jokic alone in front of the rim, plus a triple already with everything defined.

He did not reach Portland this time with 42 points and 10 assists from a huge Lillard, nor with McCollum’s 21. Like almost-always, Nikola Jokic unbalanced in the Nuggets with 38 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists; with a more distributed scoring, they also added Michael Porter Jr. (18) and Paul Millsap (15).

After a resounding 123-109 loss in Game 1, Denver managed to even out the series. He will now seek to regain home-court advantage, by capturing one of the next two meetings in Oregon. The third episode will be played this Thursday from 11:30 p.m. in our country at the Moda Center in Portland, and the fourth match will be on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. on the same stage.