Up And Coming
Denver,Co – On a team loaded with young talent, Brandon Roy doesn’t get the attention that some of the NBA’s other elite players garner.
That might be about to change.
Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Nuggets -3.5 point spread favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Blazers. Current NBA Public Betting Information shows that 54% of more than 257 bets for this game have been placed on the Nuggets -3.5.
A game after scoring a career-high 52 points in leading his Portland Trail Blazers to a comeback win, Roy will see what he can do for an encore Monday against the host Denver Nuggets, who are looking to avoid their first four-game losing streak in nearly two years.
Roy was the 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year, but has been somewhat away from the spotlight in Portland. While the third-year guard has always been steady if not spectacular, he’s raised his play in the past two weeks.
Roy’s career high heading into this season was 33, a total he’s matched once and surpassed twice in the last 11 days. He scored 33 on Dec. 11 at Utah and 38 the next night against the Los Angeles Clippers, though the Blazers (17-10) lost both of those games.
But just six days after that double-overtime loss to the Clippers, Roy had another big game, and this time he made sure Portland wouldn’t lose. Roy scored 52 points Thursday at home against Phoenix – including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:01 left – and the Blazers erased a seven-point halftime deficit to win 124-119.
"I think this is by far the best offensive game I’ve had,” Roy said after coming within two points of Portland’s single-game franchise record, held by Damon Stoudamire. "I can’t say the basket was big, but my confidence was huge tonight. I just felt like every shot I took was going to go in.”
Coach Nate McMillan called it a "quiet" 52 points.
"He was just knocking down shots,” McMillan said. "You almost expect him to do this night after night.”
Lately, he has. Roy has scored at least 29 points in each of his past five games, averaging 36.4. For the season, he’s one of three players to average at least 23 points, five assists and four rebounds. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are the others.
Portland fans serenaded Roy with chants of "M-V-P!” during the win over Phoenix, though Roy admits that’s the last thing on his mind.
"My No. 1 goal is to win. Not to be the MVP. Not to be the All-Star,” Roy said.
The Nuggets (17-10) won 16 of their first 20 games after acquiring former NBA finals MVP Chauncey Billups from Detroit last month, but they’ve dropped their past three games. With a loss Monday, they’ll have lost four straight for the first time since Feb. 14-24, 2007.
Denver’s three losses have all been against teams that are at least five games above .500. The latest came Saturday in Phoenix, where 21 turnovers doomed the Nuggets in a 108-101 loss.
"One thing I emphasized to the team is we’re beating ourselves a little bit," coach George Karl said. "There’s a positive energy to how we’re playing but losing is tough to overcome. We’re still in a good place."
Neither Billups nor Carmelo Anthony have been shooting the ball well recently. Billups is averaging 14.0 points on 36.8 percent shooting in the Nuggets’ three losses, while Anthony is averaging 15.0 points while shooting 34.8 percent.
Anthony is averaging 29.1 points in his past nine games against the Blazers.
Portland had lost nine in a row in Denver prior to a 116-105 win on Dec. 16, 2007, behind 26 points and 11 assists from Roy.
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Posted: 12/22/08 1:55 AM ET