Nuggets at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers haven’t started clicking on all cylinders yet and are hoping a three-game stretch that includes two games against Denver will be the impetus to stringing together a bunch of wins. The Trail Blazers are just 3-3 entering Sunday’s home game against the Nuggets and have yet to look like the team that racked up 54 victories and a playoff series last season. Denver has suffered four consecutive defeats since winning its opener.
The Nuggets lost both their previous road games by double digits and players like Danilo Gallinari (knee), JaVale McGee (leg) and Nate Robinson (knee) are having their minutes limited in their returns from major injuries. Robinson played a season-high 26 minutes in Friday’s loss to Cleveland, a contest in which Randy Foye stepped up with season highs of 28 points and nine assists. The Trail Blazers lost 106-102 on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday with Damian Lillard leading the way with 25 points.
TV: 9 p.m. Altitude (Denver), CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (1-4): Ty Lawson (ankle) could miss his second straight game, which would greatly hinder Denver’s chances of slowing down Lillard. Lawson had issues with the left ankle late last season and began having more troubles this season, and it finally reached the point when he had to pull himself from the lineup against Cleveland. “He’s our first line of offense, he’s our first line of defense,” coach Brian Shaw told reporters.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (3-3): All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge has scored 20 or more points in five of Portland’s six games but hasn’t yet had a monster performance. He certainly had one against Denver last Jan. 23 when he scored a regular-season, career-high 44 points in the Trail Blazers’ 110-105 victory. Aldridge was just 7-of-22 from the field while contributing 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Clippers and is averaging 22 points on 46.4 percent shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Portland swept last season’s four meetings.
2. Denver PF Kenneth Faried is averaging 7.3 points on 13-of-34 shooting in four games since opening the season with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting against Detroit.
3. Trail Blazers SF Nicolas Batum is averaging just 8.8 points after averaging 13 or more in each of the last three seasons.