The Portland Trail Blazers, in danger of getting blown out early, maintained their poise and rallied past the Denver Nuggets for a 100-96 victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Portland trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, when Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was 1-for-9 shooting from the field.

Lillard continued to struggle in the second half, but his backcourt mate, C.J. McCollum, fueled Portland’s comeback with 37 points.

Portland, advancing to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2000, will face the Golden State Warriors. Game 1 of the best-of-7 series set for Tuesday in Oakland.

? the TOP PLAYS down the stretch as the @trailblazers win Game 7 and ADVANCE! #RipCity#NBAPlayoffs

WCF Game 1: Tuesday (5/14), 9pm/et, ESPN pic.twitter.com/BHH0TnduMp

While the Trail Blazers are looking for their first appearance in the NBA Finals since 1992, the Warriors are looking for their third straight NBA championship and fourth in the past five seasons.

On Sunday, the Nuggets got the Pepsi Center in Denver rocking early when they opened up a 17-point lead in the first half. Denver took its biggest lead with 7:26 left in the first half when Monte Morris’ basket put the Nuggets up 39-22.

But the Trail Blazers trimmed that deficit to 48-39 at the half and took their first lead of the game with 12.1 seconds left in the third quarter when McCollum’s short jumper put Portland ahead of Denver 71-70 and led by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter.

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