NBA: Lawson, Iguodala too much, as Nuggets survive Trail Blazers' late surge

The Denver Nuggets had enough in the tank to outlast a late Portland Trail Blazers surge, 111-109, Wednesday (Thursday, PHL time), at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.

The win allowed the Nuggets to extend their win streak to three games, 37-22, while the Blazers were unable to build off their victory over the Boston Celtics, settling for a 26-31 card.

The visiting Denver squad seemed primed for a blowout, as Corey Brewer armed his side with a 12-point lead, 41-29, three and a half minutes into the second period. But in the third quarter, the home team began the second half with an 11-4 blast, nine coming from three-pointers, to get within a point, 62-61.

The Blazers were unable to complete the comeback, but were within a point again late in the period, as twice LaMarcus Aldridge had them within one, 75-74, and 79-78. Two big dunks by Meyers Leonard finally pushed them over the edge though, arming his side with a three-point lead, 82-79, with a quarter left to play.

A back-and-forth fourth period saw the two teams go back-and-forth, with neither side building more than a one-possession lead. With under two minutes to play, a triple by Wesley Matthews, followed by a turnaround by Aldridge tied the game at 106-all.

Off a timeout, Denver got back ahead, via a lay-up from Andre Miller, 108-106. Aldridge couldn't make it two scores in a row, forcing the home team to put Ty Lawson at the line, where he hit two free throws, the first four-point lead in the period.

Portland countered with a triple from rookie Damian Lillard, putting them within a point. A quick foul led to a split at the line by Miller, setting up a possible game-winner for the Blazers. Off a timeout, with 2.4 seconds to work with, Portland gave the ball to their go-to guy Aldridge, but his jump shot failed to connect, allowing Denver to escape.

In a battle of point guards, Ty Lawson (30 points on 12-of-22 shooting, six assists) out-played his counterpart Damian Lillard (26 points on 8-of-14 shooting, four assists).

Backing Lawson up was Andre Iguodala, who finished with 29 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, five steals and a block. Center Kosta Koufos added 11 points and eight boards.

Aldridge chimed in with 22 points and five rebounds, while JJ Hickson added a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. Wesley Matthews poured in 12, all from behind the arc.

The Nuggets shot 51.7 percent from the field for the game, and held the Blazers to 44.7 percent shooting. - AMD, GMA News