Trail Blazers trounce Nuggets to trim division deficit

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Agence France-Presse
First Posted 15:08:00 12/26/2009

Filed Under: Sport, Basketball, National Basketball Association (North American Professional)

PORTLAND ? Brandon Roy scored 41 points to outshine NBA scoring leader Carmelo Anthony and spark the Portland Trail Blazers past Denver 107-96 Friday, tightening their Northwest division rivalry.

The Blazers improved to 20-12 on the season, 11-4 at home, while the Nuggets fell to 20-10 but remained one game atop Portland in the division lead.

Hot-shooting Steve Blake scored 17 points for Portland, his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter helping secure the victory. Andre Miller added 14 for the Blazers, who outscored Denver 33-20 in the final 12 minutes for the triumph.

Roy connected on 16 of 26 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Anthony scored 32 points, hitting 11-of-23 from the field to better his NBA-best average of 30.5 points a game, but still not putting in enough points for Denver to win.

J.R. Smith added 20 points and Kenyon Martin scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Nuggets.