Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard was seen constantly talking to the officials throughout an electric Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets.

Despite a game-high 39 points, the Blazers star constantly approached them in efforts to understand their approach:

“It was a game we wanted to win, it was a bit of a heated game when it came to the whistle for us,” said Lillard. “We would say something when something needed to be said. Nobody got a tech, so it wasn't anything disrespectful.

“When your season is on the line you got to be willing to challenge what's happening out there and try to put your team in the best position to win. I think it was a little bit more of that, probably more than we needed. Maybe we needed to not say as much. Any time you see guys wanting it that bad, you're going to say stuff sometimes, and I think we might've had a little too much of that tonight.”

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The game was competitive throughout, but the Blazers were unable to snatch a win on the road, falling to Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets 121-113 on Monday night.

Lillard's 37 points and Enes Kanter's 26 were not enough to rival a team that plays very well at home and was coming back from the brink of elimination in the first round after surviving a Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs.

If the Blazers are to steal a game on the road, they will have to keep their cool, as Lillard said, in hopes to make that happen.