The Portland Trail Blazers are gearing up to take on the Denver Nuggets tonight and they will be trying to get back on track. Portland dropped their last game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a tough loss considering that Minnesota was playing shorthanded.

But going up against Denver tonight, Portland could be facing a shorthanded Nuggets team as well. Denver has listed multiple players on the injury report ahead of this game.

This includes point guard Russell Westbrook who has landed on the injury report. The veteran guard will unfortunately be out for this contest as he deals with an injury. Westbrook has been dealing with a left hamstring strain.

Denver has relied upon Westbrook a lot this season so this will be a blow to their gameplan. Portland will look to take advantage of this fact and come away with a win.

The Trail Blazers have been one of the better teams in the NBA over the past few weeks, jolting themselves back into playoff contention. However, the game against Minnesota was a tough one as they lost some momentum in the race for the playoffs.

Head coach Chauncey Billups weighed in on the game following the loss. Billups pointed to the fourth quarter as the main reason why the Trail Blazers weren't able to come out on top.

“The fourth quarter was awful,” Billups told reporters at the Target Center. “It was a rough quarter, but where we lost the game, I thought, was in the first half, in the first quarter.”

Portland will now try to get back on track against the Nuggets and push forward. This team has gone 8-2 over their last 10 games overall and they are one of the hottest teams in the league.

If they can get a win over the Nuggets on the road, it could go a long way. Portland will want to show that the game against Minnesota was a fluke and that they are still on track to potentially reach the postseason this year.