The Pepsi Center was sold out as the new look Denver Nuggets hosted the Portland Trailblazers. George Karl hoped to take his Nuggets one step further in their first full season post Carmelo Anthony. Nate McMillan's Portland squad were looking to erase a tough hard fought loss in the playoffs versus Dallas. The Nuggets surprised many when they resigned Nene. Andre Miller was off to a good start as the new starting point guard relegating Ty Lawson, fresh off the Lithuanian adventure, to the bench. Without JR Smith and Kenyon Martin, there was a thought Karl had a better chance to mold this team.
The game started at a breakneck pace as these two young and exciting teams went up and down the floor, exchanging layups, dunks, blocked shots, and hustle plays. Miller and Raymond Felton took turns carving up the perimeter defense with nifty drives and passes while NeNe, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Gerald Wallace bang the rim. The score at the end was tied at 25 but the Pepsi Center crowd had been treated to a great show.
Portland's bench provided a lift to start the second. Nicolas Batum, fresh off a successul pre-lockout stint in France, played his usual steady floor game. Batum's rebounding, passing, and defense along with veteran Brandon Roy's scoring sparked at 15-4 run to begin the quarter. The Nuggets closed the gap back to three behind the hot shooting of Danilo Gallinari and an Al Harrington sighting. With both teams' starters back in the game, the break neck pace returned and the Blazers led 53-51 at the break. Wallace and Aldridge with 13 each led the Blazers in scoring while Gallinari's 17 led the Nuggets.
The Nuggets won the third scoring outscoring the Blazers 29-19. Gallinari's torrid shooting continued in the third with three more three-point shots on his way to 13 more points. Through three quarters, Gallinari was 11 for 15 from the field (8 for 10 from the 3-pt line). NeNe began to assert himself on the inside, shutting off the Trailblazers by blocking 4 shots in the quarter and grabbing 5 rebounds. The Nuggests took an 80-72 lead at the end of three.
Brandon Roy scored eight straight points to begin the quarter to even matters. Roy would finish with 20 points off the bench for the Blazers, as he looked to regain the All-Star form that knee injuries had taken away. The back and forth affair continued as the game remained tied at 101 with a minute to play. Felton's three-point play with 39 seconds left gave the Nuggets a 104-101 lead but the Blazers would respond as Wesley Matthews's 3-point field goal with 19 seconds left tied the game. The Nuggets held for the last shot but just like in the series vs Oklahoma City, they couldn't finish the game as Aaron Afflalo's baseline jumper rimmed out at the buzzer
The overtime was all Trailblazers as Aldridge and Felton ran pick and pop to a tea as Aldridge knocked down three straight jumpshots to start the overtime while Nuggets missed their first five shots of the period. The Trailblazers dominated the extra session outscoring the Nuggets 15-5, Aldridge scoring nine in the OT as the Blazers won 116-106. Aldridge led the Blazers with 32, while Gallinari finished with 35 for the Nuggets but shot just 1-6 in the 4th quarter and OT after the hot start.
Other Scores
Utah 89, Orlando 102
LA Clippers 99, Toronto 91
New York 109, Atlanta 98
Charlotte 87, Boston 84
Dallas 111, New Jersey 97
Indiana 77, Milwaukee 90
Phoenix 102, Minnesota 103
Houston 85, Philadelphia 86
Cleveland 100, Sacramento 94
Detroit 95, Golden State 102
San Antonio 99, La Lakers 90
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