Trail Blazers 110, Nuggets 103
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Guard CJ McCollum scored 29 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Denver Nuggets 110-103 Wednesday night at the Moda Center.
Guard Allen Crabbe scored 20 points, forward Al-Farouq Aminu collected 14 points and nine rebounds, and center Mason Plumlee contributed 13 points, seven boards, four assists and three blocked shots for the Trail Blazers, who won their third consecutive game.
Guard Will Barton, who played the previous three seasons with Portland, scored 31 points off the bench for the Nuggets, who lost for the seventh time in eight games. Guard Gary Harris added 19 points.
McCollum scored 17 points to stake Portland (14-20) to a 58-51 lead at halftime. Barton tallied 15 first-half points on 7-for-11 shooting for the Nuggets (12-21).
Crabbe sank consecutive 3-pointers and Plumlee scored on a drive to increase the Blazers' edge to 74-60 midway through the third quarter. Portland's lead was 84-71 heading into the final period.
The Nuggets cut it to 84-76, but the Blazers used a 12-4 spurt to make it 96-80. Denver answered with a 11-0 run to trim the gap to 96-91 with 5:57 to go.
Plumlee sank a pair at the line to hike Portland's lead to 100-93 with 2:59 to play. Crabbe's 3-pointer upped the margin to 103-93 with 2:41 left. The Nuggets cut it to 105-100 on Harris' trey with 39 seconds remaining, but that was as close as they were to get.
Denver jumped to an 11-4 lead, but McCollum hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 11-0 run that pushed Portland in front 15-11. McCollum had 11 points, but the Blazers trailed 27-26 heading into the second quarter.
Portland outscored Denver 13-2 to go on top 39-29, and forward Meyers Leonard's 3-pointer made it 44-33. Barton's flush in transition narrowed the gap to 46-42, but the Blazers extended the difference to seven points at intermission.
NOTES: Portland G Damian Lillard (plantar fasciitis) missed his fifth consecutive game. ... Blazers F Ed Davis returned to action after missing Tuesday's win at Sacramento with a sprained ankle, and he scored three points in 16 minutes. ... Denver was without G Emmanuel Mudiay (ankle) for the 10th consecutive game while F Danilo Gallinari (ankle) sat out his sixth game in a row. "There's a chance Galli could play our next game (at home Saturday against Golden State)," coach Michael Malone said. "Emmanuel is further out. He's probably going to be another seven to 10 days." Malone said C Jusuf Nurkic, who has missed the entire season after patellar tendon surgery, could also return for the game against the Warriors. ... Denver was playing its fourth game in five nights, three of them on the road. "If you start talking about, 'Hey, we're tired,' the guys will buy into it," Malone said. "When we played Cleveland (Tuesday night), they were playing their fourth in five nights, and they didn't show much fatigue."