PORTLAND, Ore. Jermon Bushrod Jersey . -- 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. Patrick Robinson Jersey . The 34-year-old averaged 10.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 82 games played in 2013-14 with the Utah Jazz. Jefferson has averaged 14.5 points, 4. Kurt Coleman Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Demario-Davis-Jersey/ . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks.ATLANTA - Chris Johnson drove in two runs with three hits, Julio Teheran threw six strong innings and the Atlanta Braves edged the suddenly struggling Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Saturday night. The As, who began the day with the best record in the majors, matched their worst skid of the season by losing four in a row. Theyve dropped six of seven overall. Teheran (11-9) gave up two runs on four hits and three walks. The Braves had lost 12 of 15 before winning the first two games of the series. Craig Kimbrel got his 36th save in 40 chances. Sonny Gray (12-7) allowed four runs in 5 1-3 innings in his fourth straight defeat. There was a brief delay in the bottom of the sixth when a nude man ran onto the field. He was quickly tackled by security officers and taken off the field. Stephen Vogt hit a two-run homer and John Jaso also homered for Oakland. The As also lost four straight from May 22-25. The teams wore throwback uniforms as Atlanta celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 1914 Boston Braves World Series win over the Philadelphia As. Atlanta closed it out after Josh Reddick led off the As ninth with a long fly ball that Justin Upton caught at the left-field wall. Freddie Freeman hit an RBI double and scored on Johnsons single to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead in the first. Upton led off the fourth with a single and scored on Andrelton Simmons twoo-out, bloop single to left field for a 3-0 lead. Patrick Robinson Saints Jersey. Upton walked to lead off Atlantas sixth and scored from first on Johnsons third hit, a hit-and-run single to left-centre. Jasos homer off Jordan Walden in the eighth cut the lead to one run. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: SS Jed Lowrie, placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday with a broken right index finger, has remained with the team and has even fielded grounders. Manager Bob Melvin said Lowrie is trying to keep himself "as close to game-ready as he can without overtaxing the finger." Braves: Simmons, who did not play on Friday night when he had a headache after having two teeth extracted, was back in the lineup. Phil Gosselin, who hit his first homer on Friday night while filling in for Simmons, started at second base and had two hits. ... RHP Shae Simmons (strained right shoulder) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. UP NEXT Athletics: Jon Lester, who beat the Braves on May 27 while with the Red Sox, will look for his fourth straight win with Oakland. He has won seven decisions in a row overall. Braves: Mike Minor, who is 1-3 with a 7.17 ERA in four starts since the All-Star break, will try to build on encouraging results in his last start, when he allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings against the Dodgers. Minor has allowed a .372 batting average in those four starts. Cheap Denver Nuggets Jerseys Cheap Minnesota Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Oklahoma City Thunder Jerseys Cheap Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys Cheap Utah Jazz Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Clippers Jerseys Cheap Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys Cheap Phoenix Suns Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Dallas Mavericks Jerseys Cheap Houston Rockets Jerseys Cheap Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys Cheap New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys Cheap San Antonio Spurs Jerseys Cheap Golden State Warriors Jerseys ' ' '