The Portland Trail Blazers struggled on both sides of the court in Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets when it came to the interior. Drives on offense proved to be less fruitful than usual, but Portland’s defense also struggled to put pressure on Denver’s own drives. Haley O’Shaughnessy of The Ringer detailed how Portland’s interior play doomed them:
Portland was weak in its own right, both on the attack inside and in defending its interior on the other end. The Blazers were severely outrebounded from beginning to end, and they lost the battle on the boards by a 62-44 margin (52-31 on defensive glass).