Trail Blazers at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets dropped eight of their last 11 games but may have bottomed out when they finished out a six-game road trip with a 112-92 setback at lowly Dallas on Monday. The Nuggets will try to turn things around when they return home to host Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
"I’m not worried about Portland right now at all," Denver coach Mike Malone told reporters after Monday's loss. "I’m worried about our team. We just got our (butt) kicked and Portland has nothing to do with that." The Nuggets allowed the Mavericks 65 points in the first half and never got back into the game while the defense wilted at the end of the 2-4 road trip. The Trail Blazers snapped a four-game slide in impressive fashion on Tuesday in the return home after a five-game trip, running out to a huge lead and sitting Lillard for the fourth quarter in a 114-95 win over Oklahoma City. "It was a very good effort," Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters. "I was very proud of the way we played. ... We played well at both ends, fought through some foul trouble, and it was important to get this win, especially at home."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (13-14): All four losses during Portland's latest slide came by single digits, including a 121-120 setback at the Los Angeles Clippers to close the trip. The Blazers put their foot down at the start on Tuesday and never let up while shooting 53.8 percent from the floor, and placed six scorers in double figures. Lillard, who called the victory a breakthrough for the team and said, "we were desperate for a win," in an ESPN interview after the game, managed 17 points and nine assists in 30 minutes and is averaging 25.5 points in the last six games.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (9-16): Denver's practice focus this week figured to be on defense after allowing Dallas to shoot 58.7 percent from the floor and suffering losses to sub-.500 Eastern Conference teams Brooklyn and Washington on the trip. "Our one-on-one defense is pathetic right now," Malone told reporters. "We don’t take pride in it. We allow guys just to back us down and score way too easy." The one positive from the trip was the play of reserve center Nikola Jokic, who scored a season-high 27 points on Monday and averaged 18 points and 9.8 rebounds in the last four games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets SG Will Barton is 4-of-21 from 3-point range in the last five games.
2. Trail Blazers C Mason Plumlee is 18-of-28 from the floor in the last three games.
3. Portland picked up a 115-113 win at Denver behind 37 points from Lillard on Oct. 29 and added a 112-105 home win on Nov. 13 to take the first two of the four-game season series.