Game 2 was all-but decided when emotions reached a boiling point.
The Blazers were up 95-88 before a shoving match broke out at midcourt, and Portland forward Enes Kanter at the middle of it. What preempted the skirmish, less than a minute before the Blazers would seal Game 2 with a 97-90 win and send the series back to Portland tied 1-1, depended on which team you talked to.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic appeared to push Kanter after a late free throw attempt. That shove sent Kanter sprawling toward Denver’s battered wing Torrey Craig.