Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge combined for 33 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the field to lead the Trail Blazers over the Nuggets, 97-80, on Wednesday.
Denver was led by Kenneth Faried who had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds with a steal and a block on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Faried was the only Nuggets' starter who scored in double-digits. Andre Igoudala and Danillo Gallinari struggled shooting the ball as they went 1-of-6 and 1-of-8 respectively and combined to go 0-for-6 from from the three-point line.
The Nuggets shot just 38 percent from the field including 2-of-20 from beyond the arc.
Portland rookie Damien Lillard had four points in just under three minutes of playing time. Teammate and fellow lottery pick Meyers Leonard had six points and three rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting from the field for the Trail Blazers.
The loss was Denver's first of the pre-season as they fell to 3-1. The Nuggets will travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder in their next preseason game on Sunday.