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PORTLAND, Ore. -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Portlands All-Star forward had 16 points and the Blazers won their fifth straight game with a 102-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Aldridge was averaging 23.9 points and 11.4 rebounds before a left groin injury caused him to miss five games. "Im not going to call guys out but I thought that they just played great," Aldridge said about the team in his absence. "I thought everybody did more, whether it was rebounding or whatever. Everybody just played better." The win moved the Blazers (41-18) a season-high 23-games over .500. After failing to make the playoffs last season, Portland sits in third place in the Western Conference. Robin Lopez led the Blazers in scoring for the first time this season with 18 points, while Nicolas Batum had a career-high 16 rebounds. "That was a solid win for us," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts. "We did a lot of good things. I felt like we were in control for the most part." Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye and Evan Fournier scored 16 points apiece, but Denver (25-33) lost its fifth straight. Faried, who also had 10 rebounds, took a hard fall with less than two minutes left and appeared to injure his right knee, but finished out the game. Portland won all four meetings this season against Denver, its first sweep of the series since the 1999 season, when the Blazers won all three games against the Nuggets. Damian Lillards driving layup gave Portland a 100-87 lead with 4:09 left in the game and the Nuggets never really challenged. Lillard finished with 17 points. The Blazers had a bit of a rest after a 124-80 rout of Brooklyn on Wednesday night. The Nets played in Denver the next night, routing the Nuggets 112-89. "The effort was there and it was something to build off of because everybody -- the whole city of Denver -- after that loss to Brooklyn had a sour taste in our mouth," Foye said. "We just wanted to get back out there and try to give the fans something to cheer about." The Nuggets have won just one of their last 11 games. Aldridge was greeted with a roar from the crowd at the Moda Center when he was announced as a starter. "It felt good," Aldridge said. "My timing was a little off but it felt good to be back out there playing with the guys." Second-year centre Meyers Leonard also returned after a five-game absence because of a sprained right ankle. But the Blazers did not have forwards Thomas Robinson, who has a left knee injury, and Joel Freeland, with a right knee sprain. The Nuggets were hurting, too. Top scorer Ty Lawson missed his ninth straight game with a left rib fracture. But guard Aaron Brooks, acquired before the trade deadline from Houston, played despite a sore ankle, and Wilson Chandler returned after missing a game because of a right knee sprain. Denver closed within 52-47 late in the half after a pair of free throws from Faried, but Lopezs dunk and Lillards layup helped push Portlands lead to 56-48 at the break. Lopez led all players with 12 points. Lillard, Batum and Leonard had consecutive dunks to give the Blazers an early 22-12 lead. The Blazers stretched the lead to 73-60 in the third quarter on Batums finger-roll layup. Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said he liked the effort after the loss to Brooklyn, but pointed to missed free throws. Denver was 23 of 35 from the line. "You lose the game by six points and you miss 12 free throws, that can be the difference in the game," Shaw said. "I thought the team played a lot better and responded after the embarrassing game we had the other night at home against Brooklyn. So we got better tonight and Im happy with our effort." Notes: Brooks played at the University of Oregon and got warm applause during pregame game introductions. .... Batum becomes the fourth Trail Blazer this season with 16 or more rebounds in a game, joining Aldridge, Lopez and Robinson. ... It was the first time this season that no player for the Blazers or their opponent had a player with at least 20 points. Menelik Watson Jersey . -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C. Emmanuel Sanders Jersey .com) - The University of Montana named Bob Stitt as its new head football coach on Tuesday. http://www.officialdenverbroncosfootball.com/authentic-shannon-sharpe-jersey-womens . Kerr said he had dinner with Jackson, his former coach with Chicago and the new Knicks team president, on Friday night and they talked again Saturday. Kerr is in New York to work the game between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors for TNT. Shaquil Barrett Jersey . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. Brandon Marshall Jersey .1 Sam Stosur will meet Germanys second-ranked player Andrea Petkovic in the opening match of the Fed Cup World Group semifinal. NEW YORK -- Canadian Eugenie Bouchard has claimed spots in the fourth round of the U.S. Open after winning a tough match on Saturday. Bouchard dazzled for a second straight match under the Arthur Ashe showcase court lights, overcoming a run of poor play but defeating Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4 in just over two and a half hours. Bouchard remains impressed by the massive 24,000 capacity stadium, the largest in the sport, where she has played her last two matches. "I felt great," said the seventh seed, who will face Ekaterina Makarova of Russia in the fourth round. "With all the energy around, I felt we had to put on a show. "I dont know if I can ever get used to something so special as here. It was windy and difficult tonight but I dont care, Id play here any time." The 20-year-old, from Westmount, Que., fought from a break down in the second set but lost the set in a tiebreaker. "I was disappointed in myself, not necessarily about going to a third, but by my level in the second set," she said. "I was surprised I could do so many unforced errors in one set.dddddddddddd "Thats something I definitely dont want to repeat again. But Im determined to do better in my next match." The third set was full of plot twists as Bouchard finally ended a run of three straight breaks of serve between the two as her Czech opponent double-faulted for the eighth time to drop serve in the ninth game. Leading 5-4, Bouchard served out the victory to continue the Grand Slam run of form which has taken her into the WTA top 10. "In in the third set, when things still werent going my way, I felt a little lull in my game," Bouchard said. "In the second set I felt it, and in the beginning of the third. "Somehow I was able to snap out of it and turn it around. Its important to at least realize when Im in those moments, try to get myself out of it, which I was able to do." The win over Zahlavova Strycova, the 30th seed, marked Bouchards third victory over the veteran. Bouchard also won their meetings in Osaka last autumn and in Nurnberg on clay this spring. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '