Denver Nuggets Vs Portland Trail Blazers - April 15, 2009

Trail Blazers secure home court advantage in first round with rout of Denver

The Trail Blazers will start the playoffs at home.

Portland used a big second quarter to build a 19-point halftime lead, held off a brief Denver rally and cruised to a 104-76 win Wednesday night at the Rose Garden, securing the Western Conference's fourth seed and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Blazers will host Houston in Game 1 of the best-of-seven first-round series. The Rockets defeated the Blazers two out of three games during the regular season, but dropped to the No. 5 seed after losing to Dallas 95-84 shortly before Denver and Portland started playing.

The Nuggets knew before the game began that Houston had lost, giving them the second seed in the conference. With little on the line, Denver started going through the motions in the second quarter.

The Blazers had everything to play for, and the result was a wire-to-wire win for the Blazers.

The Blazers shot 54 percent from the floor and outscored the Nuggets 30-12 in the second quarter to take a 53-34 halftime lead. The Blazers took advantage of the Nuggets' defensive disinterest and scored 12 points in the paint during the quarter.

The Nuggets cut the Blazers' lead to 63-58 late in the third quarter, but the Blazers went on 19-4 run to extend their lead to 82-62 with 9:27 remaining in the fourth quarter. Denver coach George Karl decided it was time to rest his starters.

The regular season is over, and the Blazers now turn their attention toward Houston and the playoffs.

The Blazers will compete in the postseason for the first time in six years. They finished the regular season on a roll, winning six consecutive games and 13 of their final 16 games, including wins against San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver.

The Blazers don't have many players on the roster with playoff experience. And the ones who have been on teams that reached the playoffs -- Joel Przybilla, Steve Blake, Michael Ruffin, Shavlik Randolph and Raef LaFrentz -- either didn't play much on those teams or aren't expected to play much in these playoffs.

Note: Rudy Fernandez's three-pointer with 6:04 remaining in the fourth quarter set the all-time league record for three-pointers made by a rookie with 159. He broke the record set by New Jersey's Kerry Kittles.