PORTLAND, Ore. P.J. Williams 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. Garrett Grayson Jersey . Vonn flew back to Vail, Colo., last week after hurting her surgically repaired right knee at a downhill race in France. "Her knee was swollen again after Val dIsere," U.S. womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser told The Associated Press. Zach Strief Jersey . - New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says the club has an agreement to bring back outside linebacker Parys Haralson on a one-year deal. http://www.officialsaintslockroom.com/sam-mills-saints-jersey/ . -- Pelicans coach Monty Williams does not expect guard Eric Gordon to play in any of New Orleans final five games this season.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Vincent Lecavaliers sore back is getting better. So is his self-confidence. Lecavalier capped a topsy-turvy finish by scoring with 15 seconds left, sending the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. It was his first goal since Nov. 27, a 22-game span that included nine games he missed with a back injury. "It felt good. Theyve been hard to come by since I got back from my injury," Lecavalier said. "Sometimes a goal like that will kind of, I dont want to say jumpstart, but get more confidence and keep going." The goal came during a scramble in the Sabres end and after Lecavalier missed on two other chances in the final 2-plus minutes. After his initial shot just missed the net, teammate Matt Read dug out a loose puck to the left of the Buffalo net and fed Lecavalier, who one-timed a shot from the left circle. The goal capped a furious finish in which the teams traded leads twice by combining to score four times in the final 6:32. Scott Hartnell had a goal and two assists, while Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek also scored in helping Philadelphia snap a two-game skid. Wayne Simmonds had two assists for the Flyers (24-19-4), who improved to 8-3 in their past 11 games. It was a game in which the Flyers twice rallied from one-goal deficits, and won for the eighth time this season when trailing in the third period. "Never give up, thats probably the biggest thing," said Hartnell, who has five goals and eight assists in his past 13 games. "We showed a lot of character, especially late there coming back." The Sabres, by comparison, wilted in what proved to be yet another reflection of why the young and patchwork teams NHL-worst record dropped to 13-27-5. Cody Hodgson and Matt DAgostini each had a goal and assist for Buffalo, which had an eight-game home point streak snapped at 6-0-2. Tyler Ennis also scored and Steve Ott set up two for the Sabres. "Missed assignments, not determined enough to battle for the puck, spinning and turning off hits, not getting an inch in the lanes, all of the above," interim coach Ted Nolan said, assessing what went wrong. "We just didnnt do what we were supposed to do at the end. Thomas Morstead Jersey. ." Nolan could add undisciplined penalties to the list. The Flyers converted two of six power-play chances, including Hartnells goal that put Philadelphia ahead 3-2 with Buffalos Zenon Konopka off for goalie interference. The Sabres squandered a rare offensive outburst, and blew a chance to win consecutive games for only the third time this season. Buffalo managed three goals in regulation for the first time in 10 games and only the ninth time this season. Buffalo also wasted what was a solid outing by backup goalie Jhonas Enroth, who stopped 29 shots but got little help in front on all four Flyers goals. That included Lecavaliers goal, during which a Sabres defender pushed a Flyers player into Enroth. Enroth did make a highlight-reel save on Claude Giroux 12 minutes into the first period, when he dived to his right and punched his glove out to stop the shot. The goalie also robbed Lecavalier with 2:23 left, when the forwards centring pass from a bad angle struck Sabres defenceman Mike Weber in front. The puck fluttered toward the net before Enroth dropped his stick and managed to smother it in the crease. NOTES: Sabres D Tyler Myers is eligible to return at Toronto on Wednesday after sitting out the third and final game of his suspension for an illegal check to the head of New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus. ... Read returned after missing six games with concussion-like symptoms. ... Sabres President Pat LaFontaine said he thinks the team and rookie centre Mikhail Grigorenko are "on the same page" regarding the 2012 first-round picks development after the player initially balked at reporting to his Canadian junior team in Quebec City last weekend. LaFontaine said Grigorenko needs to develop by continuing to play, which would not have happened if he stayed in Buffalo with the 17-day Olympic break approaching next month. "Were doing what we think is best to develop our players," LaFontaine said. "I really believe under all the circumstances, that (Quebec City) is the best place for him." ... DAgostini earned his 100th career point with an assist on Hodgsons game-opening goal. 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