National Basketball Association
Portland 112, Denver 106
When: 9:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 3, 2016
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #29 Mark Lindsay, #73 Tre Maddox, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance: 11883

DENVER -- Guard CJ McCollum scored 25 points, guard Gerald Henderson had 18, and the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away in the fourth to beat the Denver Nuggets 112-106 on Sunday night.

Forward Al-Farouq Aminu and guard Allen Crabbe had 14 points apiece for the Trail Blazers. Portland (15-21) has won four of its last five.

Forward Danilo Gallinari led Denver with 29 points in his second game back from a sprained left ankle. The Nuggets (12-23) have lost six in a row.

Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried played a night after he took an elbow to the head while fighting for a rebound late in overtime at Golden State on Saturday. He had 13 points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes.

The teams combined to shoot 61 free throws through the first three quarters and 80 for the game. Denver had 48 attempts but hit just 31.

The teams were tied at 80 after three quarters, and Crabbe had a steal and a layup to spark a 7-0 run at the start of the fourth. Crabbe, who had 20 points in a win over Denver on Wednesday, had nine of his 14 points in the first 2:31 of the quarter.

The Nuggets battled back to get within 91-88 but Portland went on a 9-3 run capped by Aminu's 3-pointer.

Denver tried to claw back in again in the final two minutes. Two free throws by Gallinari with 1:46 left cut the lead to five but McCollum hit a baseline jumper with 1:25 left to push the lead back to seven.

Two more free throws by Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson made it 104-99 but forward Ed Davis hit a driving layup with 1:07 left to make it a seven-point game again.

A steal by Davis led to an easy layup for Crabbe with 58 seconds left to seal the win.

NOTES: Nuggets F Kenneth Faried spent Saturday night in an Oakland, Calif., hospital after he was taken off the court on a stretcher. Faried sustained a cervical injury when took an elbow to the head from G Will Barton in overtime against the Golden State Warriors, but he was cleared to play Sunday. ... Portland G Damian Lillard missed his seventh consecutive game with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Lillard is close to returning but was ruled out about an hour before tip-off. ... Nuggets G Emmanuel Mudiay is getting closer to returning from a right ankle sprain that has kept him out since Dec. 11.
Top Game Performances
 
Portland   Denver
C.J. McCollum 25 Scoring Danilo Gallinari 29
C.J. McCollum 7 Assists Jameer Nelson 7
Ed Davis 9 Rebounds Nikola Jokic 10
Gerald Henderson 6 Free Throws Made Danilo Gallinari 11
Allen Crabbe 2 Steals Darrell Arthur 2
Ed Davis 1 Blocks Randy Foye 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Portland 112 51.3 10-23 22-32 23 41 3 4 11
Denver 106 42.5 7-22 31-48 20 41 6 7 9
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game on the road against Minnesota. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .417 after a win and .304 after a loss.
  • Portland will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .409 after a loss.