[cpawfan]

&

Records as of the morning of 4/1/05
The 24-46 (1-9 over their last 10 games) Portland Trail Blazers welcome the 39-31 (8-2 over their last 10 games) Denver Nuggets. The Blazers are 16-19 at home while the Nuggets are 14-21 on the road.

Injuries
Portland has mutliple injuries. Randolph and Van Exel are out for the season and on Wednesday night, Miles, Ratliff & Anderson didn't play.

Starting Lineups

Denver	Position	Portland
Carmelo Anthony	Small Forward	Ruben Patterson
Nene	Power Forward	Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Marcus Camby	Center	Joel Przybilla
DerMarr Johnson	Shooting Guard	Damon Stoudamire
Andre Miller	Point Guard	Sebastian Telfair

Storylines
1) How well will the Nuggets match up with the Blazers smurf backcourt?
2) How will the Nuggets play? This is the type of game that the Nuggets need to win by double digits if they plan on making a big push in the playoffs.

[BaLLiStiX17]

So is k-mart playing in this one??

[Kuskid]

Ahh, where is everybody? Well, since cpaw's gone, 54-51 Nuggets with 2:55 to go in the first. Both teams are shooting over 50% from the field, and both of the teams have gotten over half their points from the paint. Nene and Dre both have 10, on 5 for 7 and 4 for 4 shooting, respectively. SAR leads all socrers with 14 on 7 for 15 shooting. The advantage on the boards goes to the Nuggets, 18-14.

[Kuskid]

62-54 Nuggets at the half. Nuggets already have 3 players in double figures. 13 assists on 25 for 41 shooting. Advantage on the boards- 21-16 Nuggets. Points in the paint - 30-26 Nuggets advantage. Despite such a high scoring first half, only 4 3 pointers were taken by both teams combined. The only Nugget in foul trouble is Russell, who managed 3 in 5 minutes.

[Kuskid]

Well, 4:43 left in the game, Nuggets went cold in the third, score's now 91-86 Nuggets. Dre's quieted down a lot, going 1 for 4 from the field with 1 assist in the second half. Melo's starting to get it going, he just hit a jumper and got Nene a dunk before that. Telfair's been impressive distributing the ball all night.

[23AJ]

Nuggets got the win! Just saw Earl knock down some free throws. Nuggets continue new win streak!

[Kuskid]

Final score: Nuggets 103, Blazers 97

Not as close as most fans would have liked it, but you can't complain about the W. The lead wasn't really in too much danger down the stretch, and we hit our free throws when he needed to. Nuggets had a 41-33 advantage on the boards, hit just 1 of 5 threes, and had 24 assists on 41 field goals. Elson finally got in, but was pretty much a nonfactor in only 7 minutes. Nene played well in his 33 minutes, save a few botched passes. Not the big game we're getting used to from Camby, but I guess we'll let him get away with one off night. That 18 footer just wasn't falling for him like it usually does. No Kmart once again, hopefully he'll be back Tuesday for the matchup with the Grizz. That's when we'll really need him. Those two games are going to be huge in determining the seeding. It's a possible 2 game swing between the 2. And since I'm talking to myself and it's getting late, I'm heading off to bed. Remember to set the clocks ahead, I'm not gonna be the only one losing an hour of sleep tonight.

[BaLLiStiX17]

Originally Posted by Kuskid

Final score: Nuggets 103, Blazers 97

Not as close as most fans would have liked it, but you can't complain about the W. The lead wasn't really in too much danger down the stretch, and we hit our free throws when he needed to. Nuggets had a 41-33 advantage on the boards, hit just 1 of 5 threes, and had 24 assists on 41 field goals. Elson finally got in, but was pretty much a nonfactor in only 7 minutes. Nene played well in his 33 minutes, save a few botched passes. Not the big game we're getting used to from Camby, but I guess we'll let him get away with one off night. That 18 footer just wasn't falling for him like it usually does. No Kmart once again, hopefully he'll be back Tuesday for the matchup with the Grizz. That's when we'll really need him. Those two games are going to be huge in determining the seeding. It's a possible 2 game swing between the 2. And since I'm talking to myself and it's getting late, I'm heading off to bed. Remember to set the clocks ahead, I'm not gonna be the only one losing an hour of sleep tonight.

Wtf how come no one posting in this?I didnt get to see the game..so this is wut mosly happend?

[cpawfan]

Game report from the RMN

"That's kind of the trademark of our team," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "We keep things close and then we figure it out in the fourth quarter."

It isn't the first time the Nuggets have struggled on the road against one of the NBA's worst teams. Since Karl took over as coach Jan. 27, they've lost at Charlotte and had to overcome double-digit second-half deficits to win at Atlanta and New Orleans.

....

Karl said discussions of Denver's close wins on the road against weak teams is "being awfully picky" and is "putting a magnifying glass on success."

[cpawfan]

Game report from the Post

An interesting development

Karl usually goes with point guards Andre Miller and Earl Boykins down the stretch, but Karl said shooting guard DerMarr Johnson earned his spot ahead of Miller.

Johnson scored six points in the fourth and got in the way of Stoudamire, who scored two points in the quarter while the game was still close.

The game

But after falling behind 31-26 to end the first quarter, the Nuggets stabilized on the strength of a 21-7 second-quarter run that put them ahead 60-51 late in the first half. Portland again rallied in the third, outscoring Denver 26-17 to enter the final quarter up 80-79.

In general, the Nuggets' lottery-bound hosts had it easier than most Denver opponents have since Karl's arrival. Teams had shot 42.3 percent against the Nuggets in that time, but the Blazers shot 47.8 percent through three quarters before going 33.3 percent in the fourth. The Nuggets also forced eight Portland turnovers in the fourth.