DENVER — Every time it looks as though the Portland Trail Blazers are on the verge of finding some much needed consistency this season, they turn in a performance that makes you wonder if they'll ever put it together. So after quality performances in their last two games — a one-point loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles and a blowout victory versus the Thunder in Portland — perhaps it should not have been surprising to see the Trail Blazers come out flat and get absolutely dominated by the Nuggets in the first half of Thursday night's game versus Denver, a game Portland would go on to lose XXX-XX in front of a crowd of 10,022 at the Pepsi Center. The Trail Blazers are now 13-16 overall and 5-11 away from the Moda Center this season. The loss breaks Portland's five-game winning streak versus Denver and gives the Nuggets just their second victory versus the Trail Blazers in their last 15 tries. It didn't take long for the Nuggets, a team playing their first home games since returning from a six-game road trip, to take control of Thursday night's game. Denver used a 12-4 run, fueled by 69 percent shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from three, to take a 25-15 lead with 5:28 to play in the first quarter. The Trail Blazers would be unable to cut into the Nuggets lead and eventually entered the second quarter trailing 38-28. While Portland's wheels were already wobbly in the first quarter, they came completely off in the second, as the Nuggets started the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 20-point lead. The Trail Blazers would eventually score in the second quarter after taking over three minutes to do so, but by then, the route was already on.The Nuggets would take a 74-56 lead into the intermission, which was more than enough to hold off Portland's minor rallies in the third and fourth quarters. Though Portland would outscore Denver in the second half, it wasn't by nearly enough to avoid what would eventually be a 12-point, wire-to-wire loss. The Trail Blazers were led by Damian Lillard, who shot better than 50 percent from both the field and three to finish with 40 points while handing out 10 assists for the double-double. CJ McCollum went 8-of-17 from the field for 23 points to go with four assists and three rebounds in 35 minutes. Mason Plumlee shot 80 percent from the field to finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in 28 minutes. Noah Vonleh, who started his second-consecutive game in place of Al-Farouq Aminu, who was once again inactive due to a back contusion, added six points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. The Nuggets had eight players finish in double figures led by Danilo Gallinari, who scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half. Gary Harris, playing in his first game this season after being sidelined due to injury, finished with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Wilson Chandler added 17 and both Jameer Nelson and Will Barton scored 15 off the bench. Next up, the Trail Blazers head back to the west coast to face the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena Saturday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
