The Portland Trail Blazers are headed to the Western Conference Finals. With the surging Trail Blazers needing a full seven-game series to dispatch the Denver Nuggets, Sunday afternoon's Game 7 win has now landed Portland a matchup against the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.

Although the Trail Blazers played impressive defense through Game 7 in Denver, the Nuggets' poor shot selection ultimately cost the No. 2 seed the series.

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Despite coming up short on Sunday afternoon against the Trail Blazers, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone is still happy with where his team stands. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering Denver won 54 regular season games and finished behind only the heralded Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference standings in 2019.

“I love where we’re at, but more importantly I love where we’re going and who we’re going there with,” Malone said during his postgame press conference on Sunday, via NBA TV.

Of course, the Nuggets do have quite a talented core, which is comprised mostly of young players. With center Nikola Jokic transforming into one of the best overall players and perhaps the best big man in the league, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has also come a long way, becoming a household name at this point in his NBA career. With this duo slated to remain in Denver for years to come, Malone will need to keep his team's spirits high heading into the 2019-20 campaign. The Nuggets could very easily win a title in the coming years.