Nuggets at Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard made a franchise-record 10 3-pointers in his last game and figures to receive plenty of attention from Denver defenders when the Portland Trail Blazers host the Nuggets on Friday. Lillard scored 41 points in Wednesday's 115-112 victory over the Orlando Magic to help the Trail Blazers halt a three-game slide.
Lillard was 10-of-15 from 3-point range after going 14-of-52 over the previous six games as his marksmanship highlighted his fourth 40-point outing of the season. "It felt good," Lillard told reporters about breaking out of his funk. "I'd been struggling kind of shooting from 3 and I shoot a lot of them after practice, sometimes before practice, I'm shooting and shooting. I knew eventually I would get hot and start making them." Denver is beginning a five-game road trip and is riding a four-game winning streak after Wednesday's 117-85 whipping of the Los Angeles Lakers. "I thought we came out and just took it to them," Nuggets power forward Paul Millsap told reporters of the franchise's largest winning margin (32 points) against the Lakers. "Our halfcourt defense was tremendous. We were not allowing them to get any shots. We could have done a little better job of shutting them down in the paint but overall I think we did a really good job of coming in and establishing what we wanted to do, and paying attention to the game plan."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Altitude (Denver), NBCS Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (14-7): Denver limited Los Angeles to 39.1 percent from the field and 5-of-35 from 3-point range and has held its last three opponents to an average of 90 points. "That's our identity," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters. "For us to be 21 games in and us to still be defending at the level we're defending at says a lot. It speaks to the mind and the commitment and the fact that our guys realize regardless of the offense, when we defend, we're a team that can beat anybody." Millsap had 20 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season while guards Jamal Murray and Malik Beasley each scored 20, with Beasley's effort representing a career high.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (13-8): Backup guard Nik Stauskas also had a hot hand from outside against Orlando by matching his season best of five 3-pointers while scoring 18 points. "Once you see a couple shots go in, just start getting a little more comfortable, a little more confident," Stauskas told reporters. "It helps me get good looks. (Wednesday) was a day where I happened to be open a number of times." Stauskas has scored in double digits six times this season, topped by a career best-tying 24 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 18.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets have won the past three meetings.
2. Denver SG Gary Harris (ankle) is questionable after missing the previous two games.
3. Portland C Jusuf Nurkic - who formerly played for the Nuggets - had 16 points and 13 rebounds against Orlando for his 11th double-double of the campaign.