PORTLAND — The Trail Blazers know that the Denver Nuggets haven’t forgotten being embarrassed on their home court.
“We know they’re not too happy with us,” Wesley Matthews said. “They’re not the same team. I guarantee you they haven’t forgotten that game.”
On the Blazers’ last trip to the Mile High City, they scored 84 points in the first half of a 130-113 win. The Nuggets allowed a hemorrhaging amount of dunks and 3-pointers to the Blazers.
But since the night the Nuggets seemingly hit rock bottom, they’ve bounced back to win eight of their next 10 games. The Nuggets are currently in second place behind the Blazers in the Northwest Division.
The Blazers took a day to recuperate following Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
LaMarcus Aldridge said he was fighting a cold. Matthews has a gash on his shooting elbow. Damian Lillard played through a stomach virus.
Will Barton, who missed Sunday’s game with gastritis, has already been ruled out for Tuesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
Among players picking up their game for Denver in the recent stretch is Matthews’ counterpart at shooting guard Tuesday, Arron Afflalo.
Over the last nine games, Afflalo is averaging 18.2 points per game on 50 percent shooting and 48 percent 3-point shooting.
Danilo Gallinari has slowly picked up his game in his return from a torn ACL and Wilson Chandler has also been shooting over 40 percent on 3’s.
The win would clinch the season series against the Nuggets for the second season in a row and extend their winning streak against Denver to seven games.
