Six-Seeded Blazers Set For Rematch With Nuggets In First Round

Portland's win and losses from Western Conference peers landed the Blazers a first-round matchup with Denver.

Portland didn't just clinch a playoff spot and some much-needed rest on Sunday night. By beating the Denver Nuggets in the biggest and last game of the regular season, the Trail Blazers happened to earn the first-round matchup every team in the West might have preferred – and it happens to be a rematch. 

Portland and Denver will meet again in the first round of the playoffs, after season-finale losses from the LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks rattled the Western Conference standings a final time. 

The Blazers finished the regular season  42-30, same as the Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. But league rules stipulate that a three-way tie is separated by division finish, giving the Mavericks fifth despite Portland owning the head-to-head tie-breaker.

Not that the Blazers are complaining, of course. LA's epic tank job versus the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday kept Denver in third. More importantly for the Clippers, it prevents them from seeing the presumptive seven-seeded Los Angeles Lakers until the Conference Finals.

After the game, Jusuf Nurkic echoed Damian Lillard's weekend comments by insisting his team didn't care who it faces in the first round. Lillard even singled out the Clippers by name on Saturday, suggesting regular-season results aren't always indicative of what's to come in the playoffs.

Still, it's safe to say everyone in Portland's locker room – whether admitting it amongst themselves or not – is much happier meeting the short-handed Nuggets in the first round than the Clippers. Rip City certainly breathed a sigh of relief when the results of a wild Sunday were ironclad.

Next up for the Blazers? A few days of rest before seeing Nikola Jokic and company again in Denver, this time for multiple games under the real postseason pressure cooker.

READ MORE: Portland's Best Bet At Playoff Success? Meeting the Nuggets