Portland Trail Blazers: Raymond Felton Gets Revenge over Denver Nuggets, 111-102

It was only two days ago that the Blazers' guards were taking heat for being inefficient against the Sacramento Kings—heat that was well-deserved as they combined for 8-of-33 shooting from the field.

But the three-guard tandem of Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews and sixth man Jamal Crawford came out firing, combining for 70 of Portland's 111 points in their sloppy, but effective win over the Denver Nuggets, Thursday night.

Felton deflected the notion that his performance was an act of revenge against his former team, but his 23 points, six assists and five rebounds in his best game as a Trail Blazer said otherwise.

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"Win, baby, it's a win. That's all I'm happy about," said Felton to the Trail Blazers TV. "Like I said from the beginning, it was no individual thing towards the Nuggets. The Nuggets were good to me. The city, the fans were good to me. So its nothing against them. I'm just trying to get a win."

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But it sure looked personal when he knocked down a clutch three-pointer with under two minutes remaining to help put the game out of reach and give the Blazers their third win of the season.

However, as sweet of a night as it was for Felton, the other two guards, Matthews and Crawford, did some serious work on the court as well.

Coming off of back-to-back 4-of-14 shooting games, Matthews lit up the Nuggets for 25 points, including five three-pointers all coming in the second half. And Crawford easily had his best game as a Trail Blazer, scoring 22 points off the bench, 14 coming in the fourth quarter.

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"I felt good. I felt like I'm getting my legs underneath me," said Crawford to the Trail Blazers TV. "Whenever you come to a new team, it's tough to kind of adjust... We had a short training camp, so I think I'll get better and better as the season goes on." 

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But if you remember, I said it was a sloppy victory. While Portland dropped 111 points on the Denver defense, they also turned the ball over 25 times—something that must immediately be addressed at their next available practice.

Possessions looked sloppy, transition plays were out of sync and fast breaks were out of control. Portland has reverted from an inside-out, half court team, working through LaMarcus Aldridge, who only finished with 13 points, to a fast break, run-and-gun style team.

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"We did a bad job of taking care of the ball, we DIDN'T take care of the ball," said Coach Nate McMillan emphatically after the game. "25 turnovers. You really don't win a lot of games with 25 turnovers in a ball game.

"We were just too loose with the ball. Too many guys trying to do too much with the ball, but when we needed to get stops I thought we made some plays. I thought [Marcus] Camby anchored the defensed for the most part, all night long."

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The Blazers also won the rebound margin by 20 (50-30) with each player grabbing either five or six boards, with the exception of Marcus Camby who accompanied his three blocked shots with 12 rebounds.

Nicolas Batum made the highlight reel with four blocks, two of which were chase-downs, stopping Denver fast breaks.

The undefeated Trail Blazers (3-0) must clean up their act, as they go on a two-game road trip to take on Northwest Division rival, Oklahoma City, and a Western Conference contender, the Los Angeles Clippers. And when they come home, they welcome a resilient Kobe Bryant and a Los Angeles Lakers team that is trying to inch its way into a Western Conference top four seed.