The Portland Trail Blazers are a half-game in front of the Denver Nuggets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and through the first half tonight, the Nuggets are playing like a team who wants to change that. The Nuggets lead Portland 62-45 at halftime at the Pepsi Center behind a stellar all-around scoring attack.
Ty Lawson is back in the Nuggets lineup, and finished the first half with seven points and five assists. Three Denver scorers reached double-figures. Al Harrington came off the bench to score 11 points, while Timofey Mozgov and rookie forward Kenneth Faried each have 10 points. Rookie Jordan Hamilton came off the bench to add nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in the half for Denver.
Jamal Crawford has 13 points to lead Portland. LaMarcus Aldridge has 12 points for the Blazers.
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