s. Burke pointed to "weird stuff," mistakes and "stu

DENVER - A little bit tired and drained entering the second night of back-to-back games, the Portland Trail Blazers nevertheless put together a startling offensive flurry.So startling that Damian Lillard had to take a moment to fully comprehend what his team accomplished — 84 points in the first half.Thats the points you score in a full game, Lillard said.It certainly made for an easy rest of the way.Lillard had 27 points and a season-high nine assists as the Blazers used a big first half to rout the Denver Nuggets 130-113 on Wednesday night.The 84 points by the Blazers in the opening half was one basket away from matching the team record for a half (86) set against Golden State on Jan. 5, 1986. It was the most points scored in the first half by a Denver opponent since Phoenix scored an NBA-record 107 points on Nov. 10, 1990, according to Nuggets officials.Even more, the last time a team scored that many in any half was March 25, 2011, when Golden State had 84 in the first half against Toronto, according to STATSIt felt great, because everything that we wanted to do, youre in the flow of doing it, Lillard said. You want to get out in transition, play unselfish, you want to make shots. You want to defend. We did all those things. Thats as well as weve done that all season.So, was that as good as Portland can play?I dont want to put a ceiling on that, said Robin Lopez, who scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half. We were a little fortunate. Shots were falling. Part of that is kismet. Part of that is moving the ball. Part of that is us.The Blazers showed no signs of fatigue, despite expending plenty of energy the night before in coming back from a 23-point deficit to hold off Charlotte at the buzzer.They also beat Denver in Portland on Sunday, in a tighter game (116-100). This time they expected more energy out of the Nuggets, who dropped their sixth straight game in front of a small crowd on a bitterly cold night.We were expecting their best shot, expecting them to come out fired up, Lillard said. It felt kind of dry, with the crowd and everything. We knew that we would have to create our own energy.We did that.LaMarcus Aldridge usually gives the Nuggets nightmares, but he was kept in check, finishing with 12 points. He averaged 28.3 points against Denver a season ago, and had a career-high 44 points in a game last January.This was the first time all year Nuggets coach Brian Shaw had a full squad at his disposal. It didnt help. Shaw couldnt find the right combination to slow down the Blazers, who led 84-50 at the break. Thats quite a first-half explosion, especially considering Indiana beat Miami 81-75 earlier in the night.On a frigid night outside the Pepsi Center — minus-3 degrees and falling — the Nuggets were just as cold inside. They shot 37.8 per cent in the first half, including 1 for 8 from 3-point range, leading to plenty of boos from the sparse crowd.Its not easy for them to see us play like that, Danilo Gallinari said. I understand them. Hopefully, we can turn those boos into applause the next game.Lapses on defence proved costly for Denver, said Ty Lawson, who led the team with 32 points.Have to play better, he said.Denver actually went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter and still trailed by 21 points. Lillard ended any chance of a comeback when he hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the quarter to restore the big lead.The game was so lopsided that Portlands starters were on the bench for the final quarter.I didnt (see this coming), Lillard said. Everybody was focused.___TIP INSTrail Blazers: Allen Crabbe filled in for Nicolas Batum, who was sidelined with a bruised knee. Crabbe finished with seven points. ... Reserve Chris Kaman had 16 points.Nuggets: The minute restrictions were finally lifted for Nate Robinson and Gallinari, who are both returning from knee injuries. ... J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 11 rebounds in his second game back. He missed the opening five games of the year, serving a suspension for violating the leagues anti-drug program.UP NEXTTrail Blazers: Host Brooklyn on Saturday.Nuggets: Visit Indiana on Friday. Patrick McCaw Jersey . -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No. Custom Toronto Raptors Jerseys . -- Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes Thursday for a 7-under 63 to take the lead after one round of the Honda Classic. http://www.nbaraptorsonline.com/ . -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Pascal Siakam Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. Pascal Siakam Raptors Jersey . With the Canadiens leading by one to start the third period, Price turned away 16 shots by the Panthers in the final frame to give Montreal a 2-1 victory over Florida on Monday night. The Panthers (16-21-6) outshot Montreal 16-10 in the final frame, but were repeatedly frustrated by Price, who made 26 saves on the night.WINNIPEG - Ricky Ray was looking at the big picture after his Toronto Argonauts barely hung on for a 26-20 win over the Blue Bombers on Saturday. The narrow victory secured a home playoff date for the Argos (10-6) and stretched their lead atop the East Division to four points over the surging Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-7), who travel to Montreal for a game on Sunday. "Just getting the win coming off of two losses, just keeping our lead in the East, thats what we want to do, is keep that separation (from Hamilton) and have that chance for first place," Ray said. Winnipeg fell to 3-13 and were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in front of 28,869 fans at Investors Group Field. The Argos got touchdown catches from Andre Durie and Dontrelle Inman and Swayze Waters booted four field goals from 37, 23, 37 and 33 yards. The Boatmen had a 23-3 lead at halftime before the offence sputtered. Ray didnt put up his usual 300-plus yard game, completing 21-of-35 pass attempts for 246 yards and his second interception of the season. "I thought (Ray) played pretty good in the first half, kind of like our offence," Toronto head coach Scott Milanovich said. "We just werent able to get any sort of rhythm in the second half. Its on the unit, its not just on Ricky." But even though it wasnt a masterpiece, the coach will take the win, which is the teams impressive seventh road victory (7-2) this season. "It was ugly, but sometimes all it takes is one win to get you kind of rolling in the right direction," said Milanovich, whose team hosts the Bombers on Thursday. "We need to get better next week, but well take it every time." Will Ford and Rory Kohlert scored TDs for Winnipeg and Sandro DeAngelis connected on a pair of field goals from 13 and 20 yards. Bombers quarterback Max Hall had a career-best outing in his fifth straight and seventh overall start. He was 30-of-50 for 385 yards with one TD and one pick. He led his teammates in a valiant effort at the end. Winnipeg kept Toronto scoreless in the third quarter and upped their own points to 23-10 with Fords one-yard TD run at 5:36 of the third. Hall then put up a nine-play, 94-yard scoring drive that ended with Kohlerts 27-yard TD reception to cut Torontos lead to 23-17 at 5:02 of the fourth quarter. DeAngelis surprised the crowd by completing a successful onside kicck and recovered the ball himself at Winnipegs 50-yard line, but the Bombers ended up being forced to punt.dddddddddddd. Mike Renaud booted a 40-yarder that Chad Owens took, but could only return to Torontos 14-yard line. Toronto punted and Winnipeg tried another comeback from mid-field. Receiver Mike Sims-Walker, a former NFLer with Jacksonville and St. Louis, grabbed a pair of 13-yard passes in his impressive CFL debut and got the Bombers down to Torontos 13-yard line. But on second down with two yards to go, the Bombers committed a huge error as Hall got called for a time-count violation and Winnipeg lost a down. DeAngelis made the 20-yard field goal and closed the gap to 23-20 with 2:05 left in the game. Bombers head coach Tim Burke said the time-count violation had to do with Ford not hearing his blocking assignment and Hall not being comfortable with having the play go ahead. Hall was shaken up by a heavy hit and wasnt available to the media after the game. Following DeAngelis field goal, Ray responded with a 31-yard pass to Jason Barnes and Bombers defensive lineman Greg Peach was flagged for roughing the passer. Waters finished the drive with his 33-yarder with 1:06 remaining. Hall got the Bombers down to Torontos 49-yard line, but a knocked-down pass intended for Cory Watson ended the effort and playoff hopes. Burke pointed to "weird stuff," mistakes and "stupid penalties" as some of the reasons for the loss. An example of an error and oddity occurred late in the second quarter when Watson had what seemed to be a sure TD pass go right through his hands in the end zone. Halls next pass to a wide-open Clarence Denmark in the back of the end zone hit the goal post. The following 26-yard field-goal attempt by DeAngelis was botched when the ball was placed on the tee and fell off, causing holder Renaud to try a pass that went incomplete and turned into a turnover. The gaffes drew boos from the fans. But Burke predicted his players wont downshift gears now that the team is officially out of the playoffs. "Theyll still play hard and theyll still play to win," Burke said. "Weve got guys who are tough guys, that are mentally tough, and theyre going to keep going." Sims-Walker led all receivers with eight receptions for 137 yards. Owens topped Toronto receivers with eight catches for 71 yards. ' ' '