Nuggets at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers go after their fifth win in six games and hope to make it a little easier on themselves when the Denver Nuggets pay a visit Sunday night. The Trail Blazers have earned their last five wins by a combined 23 points and played three overtime games this season despite being among the league leaders in scoring at 108.4 per contest.
“I think we play well in spots,” Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters. “Our challenge is to play well for longer periods.” The Trail Blazers won 115-113 at Denver on Oct. 29 after leading scorer Damian Lillard’s floater found the bottom of the net with less than a second left in overtime. The Nuggets have dropped four of their last five games after a solid start to the season, falling behind by 15 after the first quarter and losing 106-95 at home against Detroit on Saturday night. Denver’s leading scorer Will Barton (ankle) could miss his seventh straight as the Nuggets play their only road contest in a seven-game stretch Sunday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude2 (Denver), CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (3-6): Guard Emmanuel Mudiay has raised his level of play over the last four games, averaging 20.5 points – 19 on Saturday. Danilo Gallinari has scored in double figures in every game after pouring in 18 points against Detroit and Gary Harris added 13, but the Nuggets allowed 51.1 percent shooting from the field. Center Jusuf Nurkic — averaging six points in the last four games — was blanked in 17 minutes Saturday and forward Wilson Chandler (hamstring) returned to the lineup after missing two games and had six points and 10 rebounds.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (6-4): Lillard had 36 points in the 122-120 overtime victory over Sacramento on Friday — the third time in five games he has scored at least that many — and is averaging 30.6 to go along with 4.5 assists overall. Backcourt partner C.J. McCollum recorded at least 30 points in three of the past four games and averages 22.2 while forward Maurice Harkless (11.2) adds some scoring depth. Allen Crabbe (9.6 points) also has contributed for Portland, which has registered at least 100 points in nine of its 10 contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers have won four straight and 12 of the last 13 games in the series against the Nuggets.
2. Rookie SG Jamal Murray is 19-for-45 from the field since missing all 16 shots in his first four games of the season.
3. Portland G Jake Layman is averaging 10.3 points in his first three NBA games, draining 12 of his 19 shot attempts.