Trail Blazers at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets worked hard to get back to a winning record and will have to pass another tough test if they want to stay there. The Nuggets will aim for their eighth win in nine games when they host the Portland Trail Blazers for the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday. Denver wasted a lot of energy getting its record to 9-8 in Utah on Monday, when it squandered a 22-point lead and had to scramble down the stretch to pull out a 103-101 win.
The Trail Blazers had a nine-game winning streak come to an end against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday but bounced back nicely by knocking off the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-93 on Sunday behind 23 points from Wesley Matthews. “It’s weird; I don’t feel that great,” Matthews told reporters. “My elbow is sore, but teammates are finding me.” The Nuggets did a great job of finding each other Monday as seven players reached double figures, led by Wilson Chandler and Ty Lawson with 15 points apiece.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, KGW (Portland), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (13-4): Matthews is 27-of-44 from the floor and 19-of-31 from 3-point range over the last three games while averaging 25.7 points. The veteran shooting guard has hit better than 50 percent of his shots in six of the last seven games after failing to reach 50 percent in five straight. “I don’t see anything different,” Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters of Matthews. “Even when he wasn’t shooting the ball well, he was playing the same way. He’s in a good grove right now and it’s best not to question.”
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (9-8): It looked like Denver would be able to get its starters plenty of rest when it held an 18-point lead with four minutes left in the third quarter Monday, but instead Lawson (39 minutes) and Chandler (34) were worked hard in the fourth quarter. Lawson finished with 12 assists for his fifth straight double-double and seventh in the last eight games. Center Timofey Mozgov is becoming a frequent member of the double-double party as well with three in the last five contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Denver G Arron Afflalo was ejected for committing a flagrant 2 foul late in Monday’s game.
2. Lawson averaged 25 points and seven assists in back-to-back losses to the Blazers last month.
3. Portland has taken six straight in the series and took the two meetings in November by an average of 16.5 points.