(Denver-CO) The Denver Nuggets boarded a plane last night still tops in the Northwest Division thanks to a, 106-90, win over the visibly fatigued Blazers. The victory keeps Denver in first place win or lose tonight against the Jazz who have won nine-straight games and are arguable the NBA's hottest team.

The Nuggets looked steady in the first quarter as they brought a nice energy and shared the ball offensively. All five starters, with the line-up changes of Johan Petro starting for Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith for Dahntay Jones, recorded an assist with Chauncey leading the way with three dimes. The continuity on offense definitely carried over to the defensive end too. After Denver hunkered down with everyone but Petro in the box score, the Nuggets opened up an early 14-point lead after an 8-0 run put them up, 32-18. The defense deserves most of the credit for the early advantage due to holding Portland scoreless for the final 3:20 of the quarter after the Blazers missed 13 of their last 15 shots spanning from the four minute mark until end of the first.

I really liked J.R. Smith getting the starting nod. With the Prodigy running with the first unit it gave the Nuggets an extra dimension. Smith grabbed four rebounds and scored four points on a 2-2 shooting which included a tip-slam that brought the fans in the Can to their feet. His taunting yell afterwards wasn’t needed, and did land him a technical foul, but the energy it brought was worth it after Brandon Roy missed the freebie.

In the second quarter, the Nuggets started to hit a stride. Denver extended their lead to 16 points for the second time in the first half with 5:41 to play in the second quarter after Linas Kleiza connected on a three from the top of the key. The Bird was starting to spread his wings defensively with three blocks in his first eleven minutes of burn and the assists were still piling up with 13 of Denver’s first 20 made field coming by way of fundamentally sound teamwork. The Nuggets did hit a rough patch defensively as Portland ignited on a 14-7 run almost immediately following Denver opening up it’s 16 point lead. And had it not been for J.R. Smith hitting a running 35-footer at the first half’s buzzer, the Nugget morale and lead would have been lower than, 53-44. Carmelo Anthony and LeMarcus Aldridge led their teams with 17 points each at the break, but J.R. Smith’s 12 points, a team-high five rebounds, and three assists were the nicest surprise of the half.

The second half started out disastrous for the Nuggets. Denver was just 1-6 shooting to open things up offensively and were outscored 9-2 by the Blazers who capitalized on the Nuggets affinity for jump shots. Portland came out with way more energy and after the lethargic Nuggets saw their nine point halftime lead cut to just two with still 8:45 remaining in the third quarter George Karl called timeout to rally the troops.

And whatever was said during that timeout worked!

The Nuggets quickly re-established a six-point lead on two quick baskets by Nene coming out of the timeout and by the four minute mark were ahead again by ten, 70-60. The Nuggets would finish the quarter on a Linas Kleiza three-pointer that had them up by eleven, 81-70, going into the fourth and final quarter with some breathing room.

Once the final twelve minutes were put on the game clock it was apparent at about the eight minute mark that Portland had run out of gas. Remember, the Blazers played the night before and needed every last second of regulation to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 107-105, and with a very well rested Carmelo Anthony taking over the fourth didn’t have enough fire power to stop the Nuggets from sealing a, 106-90, victory. Carmelo scored nine of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter on 16-26 shooting for the contest. It was just what this doctor ordered in the wake of a two-game, 29% shooting slouch for Anthony previous to his suspension for not heeding a substitution in the third quarter of the Indiana loss.

The rest of the starters (Smith, Nene, and Billups) minus Petro all finished with double figure efforts. J.R. finished with 17 points on a very economical 7-12 from the field which fit nicely with his seven rebounds, five assists, and a steal. There hasn’t been a game this season that Dahntay Jones can say he put up a similar stat line and I hope George Karl keeps that fresh in his mind against the Utah Jazz and for the rest of the season. My reasoning behind that is even if J.R. doesn’t pour in as spectacularly well-rounded effort every night the bottom line is that he HAS and he CAN whereas Dahntay HAS NOT and WON’T. Nene added 16 points and five rebounds and Chauncey poured in ten points and nine assists; a six-week high for Mr. Big Shot.

And as the ball was distributed, the Nuggets gained momentum. Denver finished this game with 27 assists on 43 made field goals in a complete team effort. Linas Kleiza was the high-scorer off the Nuggets bench with 15 points and six rebounds while the Bird was once again the word with five points, five rebounds, and four blocks in 27 minutes of glide.

Brandon Roy scored 22 points for the Trail Blazers, LeMarcus Aldridge added 19, and Travis Outlaw 15 from the bench, but the Blazers road woes continued as they are just 13-18 away from the majestic Pacific Northwest.

This win keeps Denver in first place in the Northwest Division regardless of what happens tonight in Utah. The Nuggets are 7-8 on the tail end of back-to-back games this season while Utah comes into tonight’s game winners of nine straight since February 11 pulling them within 1 1/2 games of the division lead.

Go Nuggets!

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