The Denver Nuggets couldn't get it done for their first NBA Cup game of the year vs. the Portland Trail Blazers on Halloween night, falling in narrow fashion 107-109 as a result of some critical last-second unravelings, and thus, leaves the Nuggets 3-2 as they head back to Denver for an extensive four-game home stand.

The questions inside the Blazers' locker room and across the NBA are the same: How do we reconcile the man we thought we knew -- and a man the federal government believes is a criminal?