PORTLAND — Nicolas Batum woke up hoping his injured knee would allow him to play.

As it happened, he set a Trail Blazers’ record with nine three-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points to help Portland beat the Denver Nuggets 117-97 Saturday night.

“When I came in tonight I was thinking, ‘Don’t hurt my knee, don’t be crazy tonight,’ ” said Batum, who sat out two games with a bruised bone. “I tried to drive to the basket. I could not dunk, I could not even make a layup. All I could do is shoot from the three-point line.”

LaMarcus Aldridge added 29 points for Portland. Gerald Wallace had 17 points and Marcus Camby had 20 rebounds for Portland.

Danilo Gallinari had 20 points and Ty Lawson and Kosta Koufos each added 16 to lead the Nuggets, who have lost four of their past five, including 93-89 Friday night to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“We just need to start being more physical,” said Corey Brewer, who had 14 off the bench for Denver. “The last couple games we haven’t had the physicality we need.”

The Nuggets (15-9) were playing their third game in three days and arrived in Portland after 4 a.m. after their flight out of Denver was delayed because of snow.

Portland was coming off a deflating 95-92 loss at Sacramento on Thursday. The Blazers have been a completely different team on the road this season, where they are 3-9. At the Rose Garden, Portland is 11-1, the second-best home record in the Western Conference to San Antonio, which is 13-1.

The 6-foot-9 Batum provided a spark for the Blazers after entering the game late in the first quarter, hitting five of six three-pointers and scoring 17 points in a span of less than seven minutes, lifting Portland to a 52-37 lead in the second quarter.

In other Saturday games:

Spurs 107

Thunder 96

SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker scored 42 points and broke the Spurs’ franchise record for career assists, leading San Antonio to a win over Oklahoma City.

Bulls 113

Bucks 90

MILWAUKEE — Derrick Rose scored 21 points and had 13 assists and Luol Deng added 21 points in his return after missing seven games due to injury.

Knicks 99

Nets 92

NEW YORK — Jeremy Lin scored a career-high 25 points and New York salvaged the finale of a back-to-back-to-back set by beating New Jersey.

Clippers 107

Wizards 81

WASHINGTON — Blake Griffin had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and DeAndre Jordan had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a victory over Washington.

76ers 98

Hawks 87

ATLANTA — Rookie Nikola Vucevic set a career high with 15 points to lead six Philadelphia scorers in double figures and the Sixers dodged back-to-back losses once again by beating Atlanta.

Cavaliers 91

Mavericks 88

CLEVELAND — Rookie Kyrie Irving made a driving layup in traffic with 15.8 seconds left to give Cleveland a win over Dallas.

Timberwolves 100

Rockets 91

MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Love had 25 points and 18 rebounds and Luke Ridnour added 22 points to help Minnesota win for the fifth time in seven games to reach .500 (12-12).

Magic 85

Pacers 81

INDIANAPOLIS — Dwight Howard had 27 points and eight rebounds to lead Orlando over Indiana. Danny Granger had 19 points and seven rebounds and Tyler Hansbrough had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers.

Pistons 89

Hornets 87

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Greg Monroe had 24 points and 16 rebounds and Detroit won a matchup of two of the NBA’s worst teams.

Jazz 96

Lakers 87

SALT LAKE CITY — Al Jefferson scored 18 points, Paul Millsap had 16, and Earl Watson keyed a game-clinching 14-0 fourth quarter run to help Utah beat the Los Angeles Lakers.

Suns 95

Bobcats 89

PHOENIX — Rarely used Robin Lopez scored nine consecutive points to spark a 12-2 run starting the fourth quarter and Phoenix rallied to beat Charlotte, the Bobcats’ 11th consecutive loss.

Kings 114

Warriors 106

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Marcus Thornton scored 28 points and Tyreke Evans had 26 points and nine assists to help Sacramento beat Golden State.