Portland Trailblazers Sweep Season Series With The Denver Nuggets, 102-96

Mar 1, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) goes up for a dunk over Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov (25) and Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried (35) in the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets (25-33) fell yet again Saturday night 102-96 to the Portland Trailblazers as they swept the Denver Nuggets for the first-time since the 1996-97′ season. The Nuggets had a couple of good looks from three late but attempts from Wilson Chandler and Evan Fournier didn’t fall. All-Star point guard Damian Lillard struggled from behind-the-arc (0-5) but finished with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, collecting 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

Key Performers:

• Evan Fournier (Nuggets): 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals.
• Robin Lopez (Blazers): 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block.

Nuggets power forward Darrell Arthur and small forward Wilson Chandler returned to the lineup Saturday night as Arthur was efficient from the field. He would shoot 6-of-7 while collecting 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Chandler on the other hand has hit a rough spell the past couple of weeks, shooting 4-of-12 from the field, finishing with 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

LaMarcus Aldridge on the other hand returned from injury as well for the Blazers and put forth a solid effort. The power forward would shoot 7-of-15 from the field, collecting 7 rebounds and 3 assists. His opposition Kenneth Faried would record a double-double, recording 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with a block.

The threes weren’t falling for the Blazers tonight as the team shot just 5-of-27 from deep, 18.5%. That allowed the Nuggets to hang around in the game but they would struggle with something as well — their free-throws. Denver has never really been the team to knock down a consistent amount of free-throws in their franchise history as the woes from the stripe continue. They shot 23-of-35 from the charity stripe which is 65.7% percent. They missed 12 free-throw attempts as they only lost the ball game by six points

The Denver Nuggets (25-33) return back to action at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM MT.