Miracle of miracles. The Denver Nuggets build an impressive second half lead, and HOLD ON to win by 18 points. Nuggets win 95-77 over the Portland Trail Blazers

Here's the rundown as I was taking notes.

 

1st Quarter

Crowd looks pretty healthy tonight based on the TV feed

Looks like the Nuggets are going to try and pound it down low to Nene, he has five early points and can get it any time he want's it.

Hastings said "three guys trying to double" Wes Matthews….what? Wouldn't that be triple teaming?

LaMarcus Aldridge looks a bit more confident than usual.

Rudy Fernandez collapses to the court like a bunch of broccoli after stepping on the official's foot. Wow.

Chris Andersen…god bless him…looks very lost out there. Very slow. Hope he picks it up. He also looks like he's lost his leaping ability. Birdman gets blocked by Aldridge.

Nuggets getting really sloppy at the end of the quarter. A couple careless turnovers

Nice drive by Chauncey to end the quarter. He ends the quarter with 10 points and continues his hot shooting.

Nuggets lead 25-21

2nd Quarter

Shelden Williams comes in the game to start the 2nd quarter.

I don't like the "feel" of the second unit. Nuggets seem to lose all their momentum when they come in.

Gary Forbes making some nice drives. Still very sloppy. Second unit seems to be sucking the life out of the team.

Zone is killing the Nuggets. Where is Kenyon Martin? Also, Bird hits a jumper and gets a dunk. maybe he can break out a bit.

What's with all the blocks that the Blazers have been getting? No hops at all tonight.

Nuggets going back to Nene late in the 2nd quarter. Good. Aldridge can't handle him.

Nice blocks and D by Birdman! Yeeeeah boyyy.

Amazing sequence at the end of the half. J.R. hits a desperation three, and Arron Afflalo makes a steal and hits a two with no time left. Awsome!

Nuggets Lead 48-41 at half

 

3rd Quarter

Great passing to start off. Kenyon to Nene for the easy layup!

It's very clear Aldridge is getting eaten alive by Nene. Keep going to him.

HAHA…Hastings "There's the Wesley Matthews flop that worked in the playoffs". Didn't work this time.

Portland goes to zone again. Lets see how the Nuggets handle it.

Nuggets breaking the zone with ease. Nice shots by AAA and drives by J.R.

Defense is STOUT tonight. Tough shots by Portland. They force a 24 second violation.

Nice steal by Chauncey and dish to J.R. for the nice three.

Fernandez is getting caught up in trying to one up J.R. Advantage Nuggets

Nuggets are maintaining the lead, Birdman looks more energized and involved than I've seen him in quite some time. Wake up call during the game I think.

Nuggets dominate the quarter and lead 78-58 after three

4th Quarter

Nuggets start the 4the with the second unit.

Team is a little helter skelter to start the quarter. Nuggets maintain their 20 point lead. Portland still playing hard. AAA with a nice recovery and a two on a fast break.

Strange foul calls. Fernandez flops like a fish….then Forbes gets called for a touch foul on the perimeter. The game has ground to a hault

Nuggets still playing great defense.

Garbage time ladies and gents. Nuggets up by 21 with five minutes left. All the starters are sitting.

WE HAVE A RENALDO BALKMAN SIGHTING!! Checks in to the game with four and a half minutes remaining.

Sloppiness as the game ends.

Nuggets play better than they have in two weeks. They win 95-77

 

Nuggets of Wisdom

Efficient and productive offense. Tenacious defense. Two things that have been missing from the Nuggets for several weeks. The starters were productive, and the bench (for a change) didn't suck the wind out of Denver's momentum. With a tough defensive team like Portland, it's important to be a BETTER defensive team. That is what the Nuggets were tonight. Every Nuggets starter ended up in double digits.

Nuggets rundown

Chauncey 18 pts 9 ast

Kmart 10 pts

Nene 17 pts 7 rebs

AAA 15 pts

J.R. 17 pts

Birdman 8pts 11 rebs

Nice to see Birdman being more productive. Shelden Williams came off the bench and added six rebounds. All in all a much better effort. Granted the Blazers are coming off a back to back, but we will take them any way we can get them without Melo. Aldridge was very good right tonight, and so was Nicolas Batum who impressed again. On to tomorrows game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kevin Love. Kenyon won’t play tomorrow, so look for Shelden Williams to start.

Good win for defense.