Portland (USA), May 16 (EFE) .- Guard CJ McCollum scored 24 goals with the Portland Trail Blazers, who easily beat the Denver Nuggets 132-116 in the last game of the regular season for both equipment.
The victory leaves the Trail Blazers 42-30, sixth in the Western Conference, and they secure the eighth consecutive playoff ranking, the longest active streak in the NBA.
The Trail Blazers will face the Nuggets in the first round, leading to the Denver team, which finished third.
Point guard Damian Lillard added a double-double of 22 points and delivered 10 assists. Bosnian center Jusuf Nurkic, meanwhile, added another 20 points and 13 rebounds, as the best player in the paint.
The Nuggets, with final numbers of 47-25 in the championship, had on the field the lead of reserve Markus Howard, with 23 points.
Serbian center Nikola Jokic scored 21 points and power forward Paul Millsap, coming off the bench, scored 12 points.
The Argentine guard, the rookie Facundo Campazzo, returned to the Nuggets’ title to play just 14 minutes in which he contributed two points, which he scored from the personnel line, after he missed all three shots from the field he made, including two triples.
The former Real Madrid player captured two rebounds -defensive-, distributed two assists, recovered a ball and committed a personal foul.
The Nuggets, already guaranteed a playoff spot, kept their starters in limited minutes. The team allowed Jokic to play just 17.
Last season, the Nuggets reached the conference finals for the first time since 2009, but lost to eventual champions the Los Angeles Lakers.
(c) EFE Agency