Denver Nuggets Show Fight, Still Fall To The Portland Trailblazers 100-95
By Andrew Dill
Feb 25, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lilard (0) shoots the ball during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. The Trail Blazers won 100-95. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets (25-31) suffered another loss at the hands of the Portland Trailblazers Tuesday night by the final score of 100-95. Denver however would scratch and claw their way back into the game in the fourth quarter as they ended up outscoring the Blazers 26-to-18, but Portland would hold them off — 100-95.
Portland’s point guard Damian Lillard would take some questionable shots late in the game, but scored a game-high 31 points on 8-of-20 shooting, knocking down four shots from downtown. He would also end up collecting 7 rebounds and 9 assists, knocking down 11-of-13 free-throw attempts. Nicolas Batum would end up hitting the dagger in the fourth to put Portland up 97-90 as the forward finished the game scoring 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
J.J. Hickson was demoted to the second lineup after struggling in the last two contests. He came out with some energy as he recorded 15 offensive rebounds which would be an NBA season-high. Hickson finished the game scoring 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting, hauling down 25 rebounds (15 offensive, 10 defensive). Aaron Brooks had another solid game in a Nuggets uniform, dropping 14 points on 7-of-15 shooting to go along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
Nuggets shooting guard Randy Foye would end up scoring a team-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, collecting 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Wilson Chandler continues to struggle for the Denver Nuggets as the season might be wearing on the forward. He shot just 3-of-12 from the field, scoring 7 points with 8 rebounds and 1 assist.
The Denver Nuggets out-rebounded the Trailblazers by a margin of +23 (64-to-41), but couldn’t contain them from the three-point line. Portland shot 12-of-31 from behind-the-arc — in large part to Lillard who would knock down four triples. Another reason is Denver continues to struggle at the line as they converted just 17-of-26 attempts, (65.4%). Portland on the other hand would shoot 84.2% from the charity stripe as they would knock down 32-of-38 attempts.
The Denver Nuggets (25-31) will return back to action against the Brooklyn Nets this Thursday at the Pepsi Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:30 PM ET, 8:30 PM MT and will be televised on TNT.