Sitting through eight quarters of basketball isn’t the typical event for most fans. For those of us hoops heads who tend to watch more than one nightly game throughout the season, it’s common. But even at that, there is the typical food, beverage and texting breaks. This match between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets, however, featured the best and most competitive game to date in the 2018-19 playoffs. It was a marathon of eight consecutive frames: four regular quarters and four five minute overtime quarters.
Incredibly, neither coach Terry Stotts (Blazers) or Mike Malone (Nuggets) flinched electing to predominantly stick with their starters.