Portland Trail Blazers (23-30, 13th in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (34-19, third in the Western Conference)
Denver; Monday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Denver heads into a matchup with Portland as winners of six straight games.
The Nuggets are 20-12 against Western Conference opponents. Denver leads the Western Conference with 31.2 assists per game led by Nikola Jokic averaging 10.3.
The Trail Blazers are 4-6 against the rest of their division. Portland is the worst team in the Western Conference scoring averaging just 108.8 points per game while shooting 45.0%.
The Nuggets make 50.7% of their shots from the field this season, which is 3.6 percentage points higher than the Trail Blazers have allowed to their opponents (47.1%). The Nuggets average 108.8 points per game, 6.9 fewer points than the 115.7 the Nuggets allow to opponents.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jamal Murray is averaging 20.4 points and 6.1 assists for the Nuggets. Jokic is averaging 28.0 points over the last 10 games.
Deandre Ayton is shooting 56.6% and averaging 14.5 points for the Trail Blazers. Anfernee Simons is averaging 3.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 121.6 points, 46.4 rebounds, 31.6 assists, 7.7 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.2 points per game.
Trail Blazers: 8-2, averaging 112.1 points, 45.7 rebounds, 23.0 assists, 8.2 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 102.8 points.
INJURIES: Nuggets: Russell Westbrook: out (hamstring), Michael Porter Jr.: day to day (hamstring), DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee), Peyton Watson: out (knee).
Trail Blazers: Robert Williams III: day to day (knee), Matisse Thybulle: day to day (ankle).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
