That’s more like it! After letting one slip away to the Clippers yesterday, Portland had the opportunity to redeem themselves and win in an important game at home. Well, they took care of business as they beat the Denver Nuggets 116-100 in a streaky game at the Moda Center.

Denver has not been playing very well in the early goings of this season. Now, they sit with a record of just 1-5 and look scattered. This team is still trying to find their identity, but in the meantime, they still feel like a cobbled together group of players rather than a true team. They have a lot of players who can get hot in a hurry and shoot you into game, but they also have a lot of players whose basketball IQ may not be highest (JaVale McGee) and their defense can be questionable in a lot of areas. While the Nuggets are certainly not the worst team in the NBA, they are not the scariest and certainly not the hardest team to beat, especially if their shooters are having an off-night.

Portland had the advantage, but they just had to seize it. Right from the start, Portland got going once again. They outscored Denver 36-27 thanks to a hot shooting quarter, particularly from three. They shot 48% from the field and went 4-for-9 (44%) from three in the quarter. Nicolas Batum (more on him later), who has not been looking to score much in the early season, got aggressive early and scored seven points in the quarter on 3-for-4 shooting, 1-for-2 from three. Wesley Matthews also provided seven points. Denver shot 44% from the field and only attempted three three-pointers.

After a lackluster performance from the bench in the Clipper game, the bench got back on track in this one. Chris Kaman provided seven points on 2-for-4 shooting, three rebounds and three blocked shots in the quarter. That is right, three blocked shots. The one thing Denver does well is crash the glass and score in the paint. They have multiple players who fight for rebounds and are just big bodies that take up room. Kenneth Faried, J.J. Hickson and Timofey Mozgov all go for rebounds and can provide problems for teams. So, this allowed Kaman to block some shots and have to work extra hard for what might have been easier rebounds.

In the second quarter, the game flipped to the Nuggets as they got going. They outscored Portland 29-28 as it went back and forth and both teams went on various runs during the game. LaMarcus Aldridge dropped ten points on 5-for-8 shooting in the quarter, while Matthews dropped 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting, all three-pointers. Portland shot 57% from beyond the arc and 42% from the field. Percentages, offensively, were still very high. The Nuggets were still shooting a high percentage (46%), though. Portland has been playing better defense, but teams are still finding ways to shoot well against them. Arron Afflalo led the charge with seven points on 3-for-4 shooting, 1-for-1 from three in the quarter.

The third quarter for both teams saw a break in the offensive action. Portland and Denver shot 33% and 29% from the field respectively. The only thing keeping Portland ahead was their effective three-point shooting. They went 4-for-8 in the quarter.

The fourth quarter saw Portland put the nail in the coffin. They shot 57% from the field and from three. Damian Lillard was the highest scorer in the fourth (shocker) by providing seven points on 3-for-6 shooting, 1-for-4 from three. The Blazers outscored Denver 31-27.

This game was a take-care-of-business kind of game and that is exactly what happened. However, whenever Portland was about to run Denver out of the building, the Nuggets would make a couple transition buckets and force Portland to tighten up again. You cannot knock the Nuggets for their effort. They made it interesting and got it within one on more than a few occasions. Denver would just have untimely errors. A turnover here, a missed shot there, Denver could never get over the hump and because Portland was shooting so well from three. That kept them afloat and steady for the whole game.

Can we talk about Steve Blake for a second? There was one sequence in this game where Kenneth Faried looked to bump into Blake from behind and pushed him. Blake, taking offense, turned around and shoved Faried to the ground, resulting in double technicals and a flagrant one called on Blake. The actual play itself was not anything dramatic or magical, but just the fact that Blake is not afraid of anyone and will let you know it is powerful. That is something Portland fans have not seen a lot of over the past couple of seasons.

Aldridge was the leading scorer for Portland as he finished with 28 points on 12-for-26 shooting, nine rebounds, four assists, one steal and 1 block. Just another day at the office it seems.

Matthews continues his fantastic play by finishing with 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting, 5-for-13 from three and had six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

The bench bounced back by scoring 34 points combined. Kaman finished with 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting, eight rebounds and five blocks. Blake bounced back immediately finishing with nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from three and had four assists. C.J. McCollum continues to be effective as he finished with six points on 2-for-4 shooting, 2-for-3 from three and also had three dimes.

Denver’s leading scorer was Faried as he finished with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting. Arron Afflalo, who only played 26 minutes (puzzling), finished with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting, 1-for-2 from three.

The biggest and most important stat of this game was the three-pointers made by Portland. They finished going a whopping 16-for-31 from beyond the arc and shooting 52%. That will win a team any ball game. Portland did only get to the line 14 times, while Denver went 30 times.

A scary moment at the end of the game, Batum, after a play, injured his right leg and seemed to be shaken up. He had to be helped off the court by teammates and coaches. No word as to what that could be, but it is a scary moment for any Portland fan. Who would take backup minutes of Batum misses time? Dorell Wright? Will Barton? McCollum? That will be an interesting situation to solve going forward if Batum does indeed miss time.

Done and on to the next one. This was a “must not lose” kind of game and Portland did just that. Next up, Charlotte. The Trail Blazers will take on Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night at the Moda Center at 7:00 p.m. PST. They are a good team with potential to be even better in an Eastern Conference. However, for Portland, it will all be about containing Al Jefferson in the middle and stopping Kemba Walker from going off. Stay tuned!