Trail Blazers 113, Nuggets 98
LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and nine rebounds to help Portland end the Nuggets' 23-game regular-season home winning streak.
Wesley Matthews scored 21 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who rebounded from a season-opening loss to the Phoenix Suns. Nicolas Batum added 21 points — all in the first half — and Damian Lillard had 18 points and seven assists.
Nate Robinson scored 24 points after going scoreless in the season opener as the Nuggets lost their second game in a row under new coach Brian Shaw. Ty Lawson had 21 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Kennth Faried added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, which shot 36.4 percent from the floor and 58.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Portland sprinted out to a 64-50 halftime lead on the strength of a 40-point second quarter. Batum made 5-of-7 3-pointers as the Blazers hit 8-of-13 from beyond the arc over the first two quarters and ended up 14-of-22 for the game.
Matthews scored 14 points in the third quarter to push Portland’s lead to 20 points entering the final period. Robinson had 12 points in the first 7:04 to help the Nuggets — who only lost three home games last season — close within 101-94, but Matthews hit a 3-pointer to push the lead back to double digits and the Blazers hung on from there.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Blazers hadn’t won in Denver since Dec. 16, 2007. … Nuggets PF J.J. Hickson had five points on 2-of-13 shooting against his former team. … Batum scored the first 10 points of the game for Portland and had 15 points total in the first quarter.