New-Look Portland Loses

Voshon Lenard had 31 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 107-98 victory over the ever-changing Trail Blazers on Thursday night at Portland, Ore.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau made their first appearances for the Trail Blazers, three days after joining Portland in a trade that sent Rasheed Wallace and reserve Wesley Person to Atlanta.

Abdur-Rahim led Portland with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Ratliff had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Both were greeted warmly by the home crowd.

Carmelo Anthony, who had 27 points, gave the Nuggets a 69-58 lead with a fastbreak layup midway through the third quarter. The Trail Blazers’ response was to put in all the new players, including Darius Miles, acquired in a trade last month. The only Portland veteran on the court was Derek Anderson.

Denver answered by going on to lead by as many as 15 points.

Seattle 94, Toronto 74 -- Ray Allen scored 23 points, and the SuperSonics used a 24-8 second-quarter run to end the Raptors’ three-game road winning streak.

Alvin Williams had 20 points for the Raptors.

Chicago 107, Boston 87 -- Rookie Kirk Hinrich set a season high with 14 assists and matched a best with 23 points at Chicago in the Bulls’ most lopsided victory of the season.

Jamal Crawford, who led the Bulls with 27 points, and Hinrich took turns making three-pointers. Hinrich made six, and Crawford made four.

Leading scorer Paul Pierce matched a season low with four points as Boston fell to 1-7 under interim Coach John Carroll.

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The Celtics didn’t have much to say after forward Vin Baker missed his 10th game in a row, a number that could let them terminate the $35 million on the final 2 1/2 years of his contract. “This is something that has been handled with the attorneys since the day I got here,” said Danny Ainge, executive director of basketball operations. “All I know at some point Vin could come back and at some point he could not.” Baker was indefinitely suspended after violating the terms of his aftercare program for treatment of alcoholism. ... Bull forward Scottie Pippen (knee) went on the injured list for the second time this season.