The Portland Trail Blazers (47 - 25) outscored the Denver Nuggets (28 - 46), 120 - 114. As planned, Danilo Gallinari was given the second night of a back - to - back off. J.J. Hickson started in his place. The Trail Blazers won their third straight and eighth consecutive match against the Nuggets. They hold a six and a half game lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Northwest Division with 10 games left. They’re currently locked into the four seed because they lead their division, even though they have a worse record than the five seed Los Angeles Clippers. Their magic number to clinch a playoff berth is one game. LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game - high 32 points on 30 shots in 35 minutes. Arron Afflalo scored his most points since joining the Blazers, adding 21 points in 29 minutes. Damian Lillard had a lackluster performance, shooting 4 - of - 11 and dishing out 10 assists. After averaging 8 points and 6 rebounds over the previous three contests, Kenneth Faried salvaged his week with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jameer Nelson scored a team - high 22 points and is averaging 17 points per game over the last nine games. The Nuggets had seven players reach double - figure scoring. The Blazers battle the Phoenix Suns on Monday for their fifth game in seven nights. The Nuggets don’t play again until April, taking on the Utah Jazz, a team they recently defeated.
["TeamStat(G,'Trail Blazers') has 25 Losses ,has 120 Total points ,has 47 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 46 Losses ,has 114 Total points ,has 28 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kenneth Faried') has 3 Assists ,has 14 Defensive rebounds ,has 10 3-pointers attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Jameer Nelson') has 9 Assists ,has 22 Defensive rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'LaMarcus Aldridge') has 35 Assists ,has 32 Defensive rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Arron Afflalo') has 29 Assists ,has 21 Defensive rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Damian Lillard') has 10 Assists ,has 3 Defensive rebounds ,has 3 3-pointers attempted ,has 11 Field goals attempted ,has 4 Field goals made ,has 8 Minutes played ,has 3 Points ,has 3 Total rebounds ."]