This weekend, the Denver Nuggets are going through one of the more grueling aspects of the lockout-shortened schedule: back-to-back-to-back games. After defeating the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night, they're off to a good start to this tough stretch. They'll host the Lakers on Friday night, then travel to Portland on Saturday night for their fifth game in seven days.
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The full schedule is here, and this is the weekend ahead:
Feb. 3: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (8:30 p.m. MT, Altitude/ESPN)
The Lakers (13-9), who have not played since Tuesday, enter Friday a game behind the Clippers in the Pacific. Kobe Bryant, not surprisingly, leads the team in scoring (30.0 PPG), while Andrew Bynum is grabbing over 12 boards per contest.
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Feb. 4: at Portland Trail Blazers (8:00 p.m. MT, Altitude)
Portland (13-10) does not play on Friday, so once again the Nuggets will be up against an opponent that's had more rest than they have. The Trail Blazers, led by LaMarcus Aldridge's 22.8 points per game, are 2.5 games behind Denver in the Northwest.
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