Trail Blazers 123, Nuggets 109

Damian Lillard scored 34 points and led Portland's 3-point barrage that sparked the Trail Blazers' 123-109 win over the undermanned Denver Nuggets in the opener of their first-round playoff series Saturday night.

The Blazers hit 19 of 40 shots from beyond the arc, and Lillard, sporting silver sneakers that were a fitting choice for his sterling performance, had five of them.

Subs Carmelo Anthony and Anfernee Simons added four each as the Blazers outscored Denver by 24 points from beyond the arc.

“Look, we’re a 3-point shooting team,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “Got 40 3s up. I thought for the most part, they were good looks. To be honest, I think we could’ve shot the ball even better.”

They were plenty good on this night.

“I talked about it quite a lot during the week, can we guard the 3-point line?” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Too many breakdowns. To win a playoff game, especially when you’re undermanned, you have to be on point with everything. You can have great discipline, and we didn’t have it.”

CJ McCollum added 21 points and Anthony scored 18 in his first playoff game against the team that drafted him 18 years ago.

MVP favorite Nikola Jokic led Denver with 34 points, and Michael Porter Jr. chipped in 25. Aaron Gordon added 16.

Game 2 in the series is Monday night.

Porter had a trio of buckets in an 8-0 spurt that pulled Denver within 102-98, but the Blazers soon rattled off an 11-0 run to pull away.

Anthony provided an early spark for Portland with 12 points in the first quarter.

“He gave us the boost that we needed,” Stotts said.

It was Lillard who took over after halftime, scoring 15 points in the third quarter when he sparked a 32-13 run by the Blazers that turned a nine-point deficit into a 96-86 lead.

Jamal Murray returned from L.A., where he’s been rehabbing from his ACL surgery, to cheer on his Nuggets teammates.

“Jamal’s a leader of this team whether he is playing or not,” Malone said. "He can’t score a point for us, but he can provide a lot of other things.”

After shooting baskets before the game, Murray took the mic and addressed the crowd before tip-off.

“Man, I wish I was hooping,” he said as he fired up the crowd at the Nuggets' first home playoff game since May 12, 2019, when they lost Game 7 of their second-round series to Portland.

Also out for the Nuggets were Will Barton (hamstring) and PJ Dozier (hip).

Although the Nuggets lost that classic seven-game series two years ago that included a historic 140-137 four-overtime loss to Portland in Game 3, there's no payback vibe in Denver.

“It can’t be a rallying cry when a bunch of your guys weren’t here for it,” Malone said. "Remember the Alamo! The Alamo? I wasn’t here for that."

Bucks 109, Heat 107 (OT)

Khris Middleton broke a tie with a jumper with 0.5 seconds left in overtime and had 27 points to help Milwaukee beat Miami in Game 1.

Middleton was closely guarded by Duncan Robinson on the 19-footer.

Miami’s Goran Dragic had tied it with a corner 3-pointer with 20.6 seconds left in OT. After Middleton’s shot, Jrue Holiday blocked a 3-point attempt from Jimmy Butler as the buzzer sounded.

Game 2 is Monday night in Milwaukee. Miami beat Milwaukee 4-1 in the second round last year and went on to reach the NBA Finals.

Butler forced overtime by making a buzzer-beating driving layup past Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose free-throw woes prevented the Bucks from putting the game away earlier.

Antetokounmpo had 26 points, 18 rebounds and five assists, but was just 6 of 13 on free-throw attempts. Over the last 1:06 of regulation, Antetokounmpo was 2 of 5 from the line and had a 10-second violation that prevented him from getting another free-throw attempt.

Holiday had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks.

Dragic scored 25 points, Robinson had 24 and Butler added 17 for the Heat. Butler also had 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Mavericks 113, Clippers 102

Luka Doncic scored 31 points and the Dallas beating Los Angeles in Game 1.

Tim Hardaway Jr. added 21 points and Dorian Finney-Smith had 18 for the Mavs. Doncic and Hardaway Jr. made five 3-pointers each, and Finney-Smith had four to help Dallas shoot 47% from long-range.

Kawhi Leonard had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, and Paul George added 23 points. But they were a combined 3 of 14 on 3-pointers and the Clippers shot 31% after leading the NBA at 41% during the regular season.

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Staples Center.