Nuggets Dominate In Denver

Last night the Blazers traveled to Denver to meet with the Denver Nugget. After a season of ups and downs the Blazers were looking for a big divisional win to help launch them ahead of the pack in a tight western conference race to the playoffs.

Starting Five:
LaMarcus Aldridge
Nicolas Batum
Juwan Howard
Andre Miller
Brandon Roy

Top honors of the night go to none other than BayWatch 2010, Jerryd Bayless! JBay had a fantastic night tallying 24 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists shooting 6 - 10 from the field, 9 - 11 from the line and a big 3 - 3 from beyond the arch. BayWatch was getting to hoop, getting to the line, distributing the ball and making great things happen for this team. I couldn't be more proud of Jerryd. Since his career night at home against Phoenix, Bayless has been struggling to find that kind of rhythm he had earlier in the season. We've seen frustration on JBay's face one too many times so it was a nice change to see a smile last night. Keep up the good work JBay, BayWatch 2010 will continue! The next big story of the night was Andre "Money Time/My Main Man" Miller. Dre tallied 19 points, 1 rebound and 2 assits shooting 7 - 15 from the field and 5 - 6 from the line. The biggest moment of Dre's game last night had to be his earth shattering posterizing dunk on Aaron Affalo. We've only seen Miller jump maybe 2 feet off the ground and then all of a sudden Dre soars and slams. The looks of Jerryd Bayless and the rest of the guys when Dre threw down the hammer was absolutely priceless. That's one moment I will not soon forget.

Here's a look at the rest of the box score:

From the start to the finish of this game the Blazers struggled both offensively and defensively. There was no sense of urgency going into the first quarter and we didn't see any life until the second half. There seemed to be little to no communication on defense and one too many times we saw sharp shooters like J.R. Smith left wide open to knock down the three. We shot 75% from the line and missed some crucial free throws that could have kept us closer to a win down the stretch and most of all, our all stars were not present in this game. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge shot a combined 9 - 28 from the field. I think that hurt us most of all. LaMarcus did make some big shots towards the end keeping the score close but he and B Roy were absent for the rest. Brandon just couldn't find any rhythm and missed consecutive layups and instead of hustling back on defense made it clear to the referees that he wanted a foul. I love Brandon Roy and will follow him to the ends of the earth because he is our leader and all star but he was just not on his game last night. I honestly think Nate should've sat him down instead of giving him 40 minutes to shoot 3 - 14. If we want to be a playoff threat and get somewhere this post-season we need LaMarcus and Brandon 100% and fully involved in games. The Nuggets ended up winning 118 - 106.

Photo of the Night:

 I really hope you have more dunks in you Dre because I want to witness that live.

The Blazers next come back home to face Portland native, Ime Udoka and the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, '90s night at the Rose Garden.

• Portland overcame an 11-point halftime deficit and finished on a 12-3 run to outlast Sacramento, 95-88, Dec. 15 at the Rose Garden in the only meeting of the series. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge both scored 25 points, and Roy added a season-high 10 assists.

• The Trail Blazers swept Sacramento, 3-0, in last year’s series for the first time since posting a 4-0 win over the Kings in 1999-2000.

• Portland outscored Sacramento, 105.7-87.7, in three wins a season ago. The Trail Blazers shot 45.6% from the field while holding the Kings to a 42.7% clip.

• The Trail Blazers outrebounded Sacramento, 145-99, in three games last year, including a 50-25 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 53-14 advantage in second-chance scoring. Portland’s 59 rebounds vs. Sacramento on Dec. 16 marked a season best.

• Portland does not travel to Sacramento in 2009-10 until March 12, the second-to-last NBA team the Trail Blazers will visit (L.A. Lakers). Portland visits ARCO Arena again on April 3.

• Seven of Portland’s 16 home losses all-time to the Kings have occurred this decade (Portland is 13-7). The Trail Blazers were 60-9 at home vs. Sacramento before 2000.

(Photos: Yahoo! Sports)