Nuggets at Trail Blazers
THE STORY: The Denver Nuggets are off to a fast start, dominating the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks 115-93 before thumping the Utah Jazz 117-100 on Wednesday night. The Nuggets now have to turn around Thursday and face an undefeated Portland Trail Blazers club. “I think if you're a basketball fan, you like how we play,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “You like what we're doing.” Portland posted a 107-103 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the opener and punished the Sacramento Kings 101-79 Tuesday night. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 in the opener and 24 against the Kings. Gerald Wallace had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists against the Kings. “Gerald, his energy was great. Whenever I've been able to get him at the four, he's doing some aggressive things - trapping, running,” Portland coach Nate McMillan said. “With Gerald and Nic (Batum) on the floor, it really gives us a lot of speed and that combination, in this short season, has been pretty good for us.”
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Altitude (Nuggets), KGW (Trail Blazers)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (2-0): After a fairly slow start against Dallas, Nene was about as productive as possible against Utah. In 24 minutes, he scored 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and had seven rebounds. Nene also made all five of his free throws and the sat out the entire fourth quarter. “Every night is a mismatch with him, as long as he's aggressive,” said teammate Andre Miller said of Nene. “We got the ball to him, made some cuts and played from there. Once he got some easy buckets, it opened it up for everyone.”
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (2-0): Portland hopes to get off to its second consecutive 3-0 start as it completes its first homestand. The Blazers will play 11 of 18 games in January on the road. Wallace has a career average of 13.3 in 16 games against the Nuggets, but averaged 23.3 in his last seven games against them. Aldridge averaged a team-high 21.0 points and 11.5 rebounds and 3.50 steals in four games with Denver last season. He has a double-double in three of his last four games against Denver.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Nuggets have lost three in a row and seven of the last nine in Portland.
2. The Trail Blazers shot 42.7 percent (32 of 75) from 3-point range - but just 41.6 percent overall from the field in four games against Denver last season.
3. The Nuggets were 28-1 last season when holding the edge in shooting and rebounding.