Trail Blazers at Nuggets
The Portland Trail Blazers saw a three-game winning streak end in
disappointing fashion when they let a huge lead get away during a loss
to the Detroit Pistons. Portland attempts to move on from the stunning
setback when it hosts the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
The Trail Blazers led by as many as 18 points in the third quarter of Sunday's game against Detroit, but the good feelings turned to bad when they were outscored 41-11 in the final stanza of a 120-103 loss. Portland was 4-of-19 shooting in the quarter when it also committed 10 of its 23 turnovers. "It was a shame we threw away three good quarters of basketball," Portland coach Terry Stotts said afterward. "Detroit outplayed us in the fourth quarter. (The Pistons') defense picked up, and we had a lot of turnovers either they caused or were self-inflicted." Denver has suffered back-to-back double-digit defeats to Utah and Golden State but forward Danilo Gallinari is averaging 21.3 points over the past three games, including a season-best 25 points against the Warriors.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (4-3): Portland won its previous two games by an average of 17.5 points and appeared on its way to its third straight double-digit victory before Sunday's late collapse. "We've got to learn from it," Stotts said. "We can't back down when teams turn up the pressure. We've got to be aggressive; we've got to do things a little bit better." One player with little room to improve is star point guard Damian Lillard, who had 26 points and matched his season high of 11 assists against the Pistons to become the first Trail Blazers' player to score at least 20 points in each of the first seven games since Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler in 1988-89.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (2-4): Guard Will Barton has been an early-season surprise and is averaging 13.5 points while scoring in double digits in all six games. The fourth-year pro who spent his first 2 1/2 seasons with Portland had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Golden State while making his first start of the campaign. Denver received Barton as part of the package when it shipped guard Arron Afflalo to the Trail Blazers prior to last season's trading deadline, and he averaged 11 points and 4.6 rebounds in 28 games after the trade.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers have won the past eight meetings, including four straight in Denver.
2. Portland backup SF Allen Crabbe is 12-of-14 shooting over the past two games.
3. Nuggets C Joffrey Lauvergne (back) is questionable after missing the previous three games.