PORTLAND — The Blazers rebounded from news that they will be without Greg Oden for the rest of the season.
In fact, they rebounded 48 times.
Portland made up for the fact that it was without Brandon Roy for the second straight game. In fact, it made up for it with a guy who — pardon the blaspheme — looks even better.
In their first home game following a three-game road trip, the shorthanded Blazers refused to come up short Thursday night, defeating the Nuggets, 86-83.
“It was a team effort. What we talked about was with everything that has happened, the loss of players and being down, shorthanded as far as players, everybody has to come together and give a little extra,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. “I thought guys did tonight. Tonight we knew that it was going to be a battle.”
The game was played on national television but it was an announcement made about 24 hours before tip-off that first drew the country’s attention. In order to repair a chondral defect in Oden’s left knee — the same knee he’d been rehabilitating for nearly a year — the Blazers announced Wednesday that the 7-footer will have surgery in Colorado today.
And if the injury-riddled center suffering another serious health issue wasn’t a large enough blow to Blazer fans, persistent knee problems sidelining Roy — the consensus best player not expected to play Saturday either — surely sent them into a funk.
Then Wesley Matthews brought them out of it.
Coming off a 30-point game against Memphis on Tuesday, Matthews dropped 20 points, knocked down three 3-pointers, and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Blazers’ replacement starting shooting guard. He notched 15 of those points in the first half in an effort that kept the game from slipping away.
McMillan deflected a question asking whether the second-year player was fighting for a starting role, but did admit he benefits from a consistent amount of minutes.
Matthews didn’t disagree.
“It helps. Knowing you’re going to get touches, knowing you’re going to get into a rhythm,” said Matthews, who also had 10 rebounds in 40 minutes. “It’s human.”
Matthews was hardly the only productive Blazer on Thursday.
Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 24 points and added 10 boards himself. Andre Miller and Nicolas Batum contributed 16 and 14 points, respectively.
But most the conspicuous statistic was the rebounding disparity, the Blazers (8-5) grabbing 48 to Denver’s 35. Portland also took 20 more shots than the Nuggets.
They needed everyone of them.
Denver (6-6) led by as many as 12 and jumped out to a 10-point lead to start the second half. The Blazers rallied and held a seven-point advantage upon an Aldridge free throw with 3:19 left, but a scoring burst gave Denver one last chance on the game’s final possession, when Matthews blocked what looked to be a 3-point attempt by Aaron Afflalo with one second left.
Sixteen of the Blazers’ 48 boards came on offense, and 13 of those were in the first half.
Asked why Portland rebounded so well, Marcus Camby offered an obvious reply.
“We missed a lot of shots,” said Camby, who collected a game-high 14 rebounds for the Blazers. “And then we were following our shots and got a lot of tip-ins.
Denver ended the first quarter with a 17-0 run and began the second period leading, 28-16. Matthews singlehandedly brought the Blazers back with a trio of 3-pointers in less than a minute.
The Blazers next play Utah, Matthews’ former team, Saturday at the Rose Garden.
