"Nicolas Batum woke up Saturday morning unsure if he would be able to play that night in the Trail Blazers' game against Denver at the Rose Garden.

Portland's reserve small forward, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left knee, gave it a test during the team's shootaround.

"I talked with coach (Nate McMillan)," Batum said. "I was running pretty good, so I said, 'OK, let's try it.'

"I think it was a good choice."

Indeed.

The 6-8 Frenchman enjoyed one of the greatest shooting nights in team history as the Blazers buried the Nuggets 117-97.

Batum set a franchise record by making nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points as Portland (14-10) moved to within a game of Denver (15-9) behind Oklahoma City (18-5) in the NBA's Northwest Division.

"He did some running yesterday and at shootaround and said he was ready to go," McMillan said, "and had the best game of his career here."

Well, his best scoring and shooting game.

Batum had no rebounds and no assists in his 25 minutes off the bench.

"We told him he filled up the stat sheet," Portland center Marcus Camby cracked.

"Wasn't my best game," Batum said. "When I scored (a previous-career high) 31, I had seven assists.""