Nuggets at Trail Blazers
The Denver Nuggets try for their seventh straight victory over Portland when they visit the Trail Blazers on Sunday with each club's playoff position still to be decided. Denver is two games behind first-place Golden State in the Western Conference with three to play and 1 1/2 games clear of Houston for the No. 2 seed while Portland is clinging to a one-game lead over Utah for fourth and home court advantage in the first round.
Denver clinched the Northwest Division title with a 119-110 victory over Portland on Friday behind 22 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists from Nikola Jokic. "That is a great achievement for us," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters. "More important, we're not satisfied. We've got three more games to go and the playoffs." Portland is in good form, winning 11 of its last 14 games despite not being able to solve Denver since a 99-82 victory Nov. 13, 2017. “Another hard-fought game with Denver,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. “Those are three good games that we’ve played against them, they’ve come up on top. Hopefully we get one on Sunday.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), NBCS Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (53-26): Jokic (team highs of 20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.4 assists) just missed his 13th triple-double of the season with his 12 trailing only Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (31) as he continues his MVP-type season. Paul Millsap (12.8 points) scored 25 on Friday for his highest total in 12 games since going for 33 against Dallas on March 14, and added seven rebounds. Jamal Murray (18.2 points, 4.9 assists) had 23 points and six assists Friday and averages a club-most 32.6 minutes.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (50-29): Damian Lillard paces the team with 25.9 points per game but averaged only 18.3 in three contests against Denver this season after scoring 14 on Friday and needs one 3-pointer to break his own club record of 229 set in 2015-16. Enes Kanter (13.6 points, 9.7 rebounds) has scored 20 or more points in a career-high four straight games after reaching that total seven times previously this season. Al-Farouq Aminu (9.3 points, 7.5 rebounds) recorded his career-high 11th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds Friday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Denver's 20 road wins are its most since 2012-13 and two shy of the club record set in 2006-07.
2. Portland G Seth Curry (7.7 points, 18.7 minutes) missed Friday's game with a leg injury and is questionable to play Sunday.
3. The Nuggets won the four previous meetings prior to Friday by a combined 13 points.