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Trail Blazers look for revenge against division-rival Nuggets

Dec 23, 2008 - 11:16 AM Denver (18-10) at Portland (17-11), 10:00pm EST

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Round One went to the Denver Nuggets. The rival Portland Trail Blazers will look to steal Round Two.

The emerging clubs will square off for the second time in as many nights on Tuesday, as the Blazers host the Nuggets in the back end of a home-and-home set.

Denver and Portland are jockeying for position near the top of the Northwest Division, giving added weight to this week's series - the first meetings of the season between the teams. In Monday's opener, the Nuggets knew exactly where to focus their defensive energy and it paid off.

They held Portland All-Star Brandon Roy - who came into the contest as hot as any player in the league - to eight points on 8-of-11 shooting. For Roy and the Blazers, such a performance wasn't anything they were used to - especially over the last few games. Two nights prior, Roy exploded for a career-high 52 points in a victory over Phoenix.

On a rare off-night for the third-year guard, the Blazers couldn't recover.

The downside for the Nuggets is that they will still be without their own All-Star, forward Carmelo Anthony, in the rematch. He is out at least until Sunday with a right elbow contusion that forced him out of Monday's contest. While Denver survived his absence for one night, he is the Nuggets' only elite scorer, averaging 20.5 points this season and 24.2 for his career.

After Tuesday's game, the Blazers and Nuggets won't face off until later in the spring - including a showdown in Portland on the last day of the regular season.