DENVER — Paul Millsap is showing the young’uns how it’s done.

Millsap scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half Tuesday night, sparking Denver’s 124-98 blowout of the Portland Trail Blazers that put the Nuggets on the verge of their first trip to the Western Conference finals in a decade.

The 34-year-old forward with nearly 100 games of playoff experience has injected some savvy into a series dominated by youth and emerging stars.

“It’s not his first time, you know? He’s been here before,” Jamal Murray said. “He’s showing everybody the ropes. … He does all the little things that can help us win games and sets the tone for us.”

Millsap is averaging 19 points and 9.6 boards in the best-of-seven series that the Nuggets lead 3-2 with Game 6 coming up Thursday night in Portland.

Gary Harris called Millsap “that calming factor” for a team making its first playoff appearance in six seasons. “He’s been huge for us this series. He’s been bringing it offensively, defensively and he helped us get off to a great start today.”

After Millsap got the Nuggets going with a dozen first-quarter points, Nikola Jokic took over from there, scoring 25 points and pulling down 19 rebounds, tying a team NBA playoff high. Murray added 18 points to go with nine assists and zero turnovers.

76ERS: Joel Embiid doesn’t know if he will feel better.

He certainly knows he has to play better.

He’s battling an illness, looking like someone who’d rather be in bed than on the court. But Philadelphia needs its All-Star center, so Embiid is trying to tell himself that he has to dig deeper to find more energy, even if it’s only for three hours.

“You know, can’t control my physical condition, but I can also control how much I push myself and I try to do that,” Embiid said. “But I’ve just got to do more.”

If he can’t, he’ll have all the time he needs to rest.

With Embiid faltering, the 76ers try to fight off elimination when they host the Raptors for Game 6 on Thursday.

CAVALIERS: A person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press that Cleveland interviewed longtime Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina for its head coach opening.

Members of the team’s front office met Wednesday with Messina, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. The Cavaliers have interviewed several NBA coaches after parting ways with Larry Drew following a 19-63 season.

Following an illustrious coaching career in Europe, the 59-year-old Messina joined Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio staff in 2014.