Entering the final day of the NBA regular season, the Portland Trail Blazers needed to win against the Denver Nuggets to avoid having to earn their playoff spot in this year’s play-in tournament and they were able to beat the Nuggets 132-116, only to set themselves up with a first-round matchup against who else: the Denver Nuggets!

In mid-April, the Nuggets season took a turn for the worst and their championship hopes seemed to fade away when Jamal Murray went down with a torn ACL in his left knee, but since then, the Nuggets have gone 13-5 and have still found a way to solidify themselves as one of the better teams in the Western Conference. 

READ MORE: NBA Rumors: Chris Paul could use New York Knicks as leverage in free agency

Led by this year’s likely MVP in Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets have found production from plenty of other contributors, but health is still going to play a big role in their potential success or downfall. Will Barton and P.J. Dozier have also missed games leading up to this series against the Portland Trail Blazers and their status moving forward is questionable. 

For the Blazers, Damian Lillard has continued to be dominant entering the postseason and with his partner in crime in C.J. McCollum also heating up at the right time, the Blazers are in the midst of playing their best basketball of the season! 

The last time the Nuggets and Blazes squared off in the postseason was in the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals, where Portland beat Denver in Game 7, only to lose to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. 

Denver will be looking for a different fate this year and even though they do not have Jamal Murray, this team still has title aspirations. Will they be able to overcome Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers in the first-round of the playoffs? Here are my four bold predictions for this Nuggets-Blazers series.