Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Sports News

NBA: Portland 104, Denver 76

(Boxscore)
|
|
 
  
Published: April 16, 2009 at 1:15 AM

PORTLAND, Ore., April 16 (UPI) -- Travis Outlaw led the way with 21 points Wednesday and Portland earned home-court advantage to open the playoffs with a 104-76 win over Denver.

As a result of earlier action around the NBA Wednesday, Denver had nothing to play for and Portland had plenty of incentive.

That combination was evident in the fourth quarter as Portland pulled away for its 54th victory of the season.

Portland finished with the same record as Denver in the Northwest Division, but the Nuggets captured the title by virtue of having a better record within the division. Denver also learned earlier in the evening that it would have the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs by virtue of Houston's loss to Dallas.

Houston's loss also gave Portland a chance at the No. 4 seed, which it captured with the win over Denver. Houston and Portland will meet in the first round, with Portland holding the home-court edge.

Outlaw made 7-of-9 shots from the field and Portland outscored the Nuggets in the fourth quarter 33-16. Rudy Fernandez added 18.

Denver was led by Chauncey Billups with 13. The Nuggets will face New Orleans to start the playoffs have home-court advantage in the opening round for the first time in 21 years.

Topics: Travis Outlaw
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade N.Y. Giants win Super Bowl XLVI Cheerleaders of 2012
Additional Sports News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand
Baby shower ends with three people stabbed after a drunken argument between relatives of mom-to-be...
"Man charged with exposing himself to women while riding bike" which really is a lot harder than...
Florida man ran into his ex-girlfriend yesterday. Then he backed up and ran into her again. He misses...
Adam Adamowicz, concept artist for Fallout and Skyrim, passes away after losing his fight against...
If you are Australia's most notorious hired gun, brag about having killed 19 people, and go by the...