DENVER — Nikola Jokic got right to the point on his flourishing chemistry with teammate Jamal Murray.

“We are playing really good together,” the versatile Denver Nuggets big man said. “He’s a great basketball player, a great competitive guy and I just love to have him as a teammate.”

Jokic and Murray combined for 60 points in a 121-113 win over Portland on Monday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. That eclipsed the Blazers tandem of CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, who had 55 points. Game 2 is Wednesday at Pepsi Center.

The Murray-to-Jokic, Jokic-to-Murray connection is quickly gaining steam as their pick-and-roll game gave the Blazers fits. It’s a contrasting style to the one the Blazers faced in a first-round series with Oklahoma City, when they had to slow Paul George and Russell Westbrook.

Paul Millsap said he’s seen just about every defense employed to stop Jokic. He has yet to witness one that completely works.

“He sees how people are playing him and guarding him and he makes the right play every time,” Millsap said. “That’s what’s great about him – he doesn’t force anything. Everything is going to be the right play. He’s going to make the right reads. He’s like a quarterback out there.”

Audible time for the Blazers, who didn’t have a whole lot of opportunity to prep since Denver’s series went seven with San Antonio. Although, the Blazers are quite familiar with their Northwest Division rival.

“You go from playing a team who’s a lot of pick-and-roll, a lot of one-on-one, to playing against a team who’s a lot of movement, pretty much just moving around the whole game,” Blazers forward Maurice Harkless said. “They just played a little harder than we did. We didn’t execute as well as we should on either end. We’ve just got to learn from it, look at the film, see what we can do better, and just be better next game.”

At the top of the list – stop Jokic. He hit 11 of 18 shots and all 12 of his free throws on his way to 37 points.

“You’ve just got to make things difficult for (Jokic),” Lillard said. “We’ve got to be physical. We’ve got to be ready to help the bigs on the post. We’ve also got to make sure that when he’s putting up shots, we’re keeping him off the glass, because he’s one of the best at shooting the ball, following his shot, then the second attempt is usually easier than the first one for him.”

Another item on the list – containing Murray. Of the point guard’s eight assists, seven were to Jokic. He also had 23 points.

“Just playing my game. If somebody is open, I pass it and if I’m open, I shoot,” Murray said. “When everybody is making shots, it makes it a lot easier.”

That chemistry he has with Jokic is developing quite smoothly.

“We read each other really well,” Murray said. “He’s such a good passer and can shoot. There’s really nothing he can’t do — other than jump.”

CAVALIERS: Former Memphis Coach J.B. Bickerstaff reportedly met Tuesday with Cleveland about its head coaching job, a person familiar with the team’s coaching search told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team is not revealing its plans. Bickerstaff’s father, Bernie, was a longtime NBA coach and currently is a senior adviser with the Cavaliers.

The 40-year-old Bickerstaff was fired earlier this month by the Memphis Grizzlies, who made a coaching change and demoted general manager Chris Wallace to their scouting department in the wake of a disappointing 33-49 season. The Grizzlies had numerous injuries and crumbled after a 12-5 start.

HAWKS: Vince Carter left nothing to uncertainty this time when asked about playing a record 22nd NBA season.

“I’m coming back,” Carter said on the Winging It podcast he does with Hawks teammate Kent Bazemore that posted Tuesday morning.

When asked if he would play another season with the Hawks, Carter said it was still a possibility.

“I would like to,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Carter said at his exit interview following this season, his first with the Hawks in a storied career, that he always gives his current team the initial opportunity to re-sign him. Carter said during the season that he likes to take time after the season to think and discuss with his family about whether to keep playing.