Trail Blazers 120, Nuggets 114: LaMarcus Aldridge had 32 points and 11 rebounds to lead host Portland past Denver to complete a four-game season sweep.

Arron Afflalo scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Trail Blazers, who moved within two games of the third-place Houston Rockets in the Western Conference. Nicolas Batum had 15 points and seven assists, Chris Kaman added 14 points and nine rebounds and Damian Lillard contributed 10 assists as Portland won its third straight contest.

Jameer Nelson scored 22 points and Randy Foye added 17 for the Nuggets, who have lost eight straight games against the Trail Blazers. Kenneth Faried had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Wilson Chandler and Ty Lawson scored 13 points apiece for Denver.

The Nuggets crept within two points early in the fourth quarter before Portland built it back to nine on Lillard’s basket with 7:07 left. Nelson hit a 3-pointer to move Denver within 101-98 with 5:37 remaining but the Trail Blazers scored the next seven points – capped by Batum’s 3-pointer with 2:29 left – and pulled away to finish off the victory.

Denver recovered from an 11-point second-quarter deficit to take a one-point lead on Foye’s 3-pointer with 1:47 left in the half before the Trail Blazers closed with a 9-3 run to grab a 58-53 advantage at the break. The Nuggets trailed by four after Foye’s 3-pointer with 6:50 left in the third quarter before Aldridge and Steve Blake hit consecutive 3-pointers during an 8-0 surge, and Portland held an 86-78 lead entering the final stanza.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Portland’s magic number for clinching a playoff spot has been reduced to one. … Nuggets SF Danilo Gallinari (rest) was held out of the contest. … The double-double is Aldridge’s 37th of the campaign.