In a parallel universe, the Portland Trail Blazers would dread seeing last year’s Eastern Conference number one seed Miami Heat tonight. Much to the chagrin of the Erik Spoelstra-led ball club, they will instead be tasked with preparing for a matchup against the number one overall seed so far this year, the Blazers, who are playing their tails off on both ends of the floor.
On Monday night, Rip City steamrolled the Denver Nuggets 135-110 behind heroics from Anfernee Simons. Damian Lillard’s backcourt running mate scored 22 points in the third quarter alone, en route to a 29 point night, bringing the Blazers back from as much as a 13 point deficit.