As the regular season comes to a close, the Denver Nuggets' toughest competition is a team they don't even play.

"Portland," Nuggets coach George Karl said Tuesday, "is not going to make it easy on us."

Denver is in fifth place in the Western Conference, 1 1/2 games ahead of Portland.

The Blazers have eight games remaining and only three are on the road (against New Orleans, Utah and, in the final game of the season, Golden State). But four of Portland's five home games are against playoff teams in the Thunder, Mavericks, Lakers and Grizzlies.

As for the Nuggets, they start with a home-and-home set against the Kings. Then they face four playoff teams: at the Lakers, home against the Thunder, at the Mavericks and then at the Thunder. They finish with home games against Minnesota and Golden State and a road game against Utah.

"The playoffs begin right about now," said Karl. "There's going to be a game almost every night that has a playoff intensity to it because of the playoff ramifications."

Marcus Camby, who turned 37 on Tuesday is no longer a starter. The 14-year pro has been coming off the bench since March 15, when coach Nate McMillan inserted forward Gerald Wallace into the starting lineup and moved LaMarcus Aldridge to center against Dallas.

McMillan’s idea was to get more quickness in the lineup – and though he won’t say it, scoring power, too. Camby averages 10.6 rebounds per game – which would rank fifth in the NBA if he had enough games to qualify – but only 5.2 points on .398 shooting.

“Part of it is, we have to try to manage Marcus’ minutes,” says McMillan, referring to Camby working back from the knee surgery. “But we also have had to go small in order to spread the floor as far as playing off of LaMarcus to create some offense. On defense, we trap now and take advantage of our speed.

“Having Camby and LaMarcus (in at the same time) gives us length, but it hasn’t been that effective on both ends of the floor. There are going to be some games where we need some length. We’re still going to need Camby. He’s just not in there at the start of the game.”

The Trail Blazers released Jarron Collins after their loss to the Lakers on Sunday night, electing not to sign the veteran center for the rest of the season.

Collins was playing for the Blazers on a second 10-day contract, the maximum allowed under NBA rules, and the team would have had to sign him for the rest of the season to keep him.

When the Trail Blazers returned from Atlanta on Sunday, Rudy Fernandez knew he had to do something with his faltering shot, which has been off target most of the season.

So when he returned to Portland, Fernandez studied his shot by watching game film. And he talked with assistant coach Dean Cooper, who works with him after every practice and shootaround.

The two concluded that Fernandez needed a better "ready" position when he received passes on the perimeter. So Cooper instructed Fernandez to get into a crouch – or sit – as he prepares to catch a pass instead of being so erect as before.

"It's more in the shooting motion, and more power with the legs," Fernandez said, emulating the crouch on Tuesday morning. "I'm excited. I want to shoot better, and who knows, maybe it starts today."

Later that night in Dallas, Fernandez indeed broke out of his shooting slump, hitting 4-of-7 shots, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.

With the trade deadline acquisition of Gerald Wallace, what the Blazers netted was a ridiculous level of lineup versatility. With so many players able to swing between positions, coach Nate McMillan is now able to go small, go big, or go with whatever works.

For most of the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's game against the Mavericks, McMillan used a lineup consisting of Wallace, Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Marcus Camby.

Though that unit was without a true point guard, it made sense for the occasion, as each of the players offered an interesting counter for Dallas' efficient offense.

This was McMillan’s closing group on this night, but the fourth quarter in each of the games to come figures to provide a notable contrast.

Wallace’s presence may not create an entirely stable rotation in Portland, but he opens up a startling number of possibilities.

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Chris Johnson of the NBA Development League's Dakota Wizards for the remainder of the season, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho.

Johnson, 25, previously signed a 10-day contract with the Trail Blazers on Jan. 22 and appeared in two games, Feb. 1 vs. San Antonio and Feb. 2 at Denver, totaling four points and four rebounds in 16 minutes.

The Blazers are on the verge of signing Chris Johnson for the rest of the season, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Johnson was signed to a 10-day contract in January when the team was granted an injury exception. He later signed a 10-day contract with the Celtics.

Blazers' rookie Luke Warren, on a D-League assignment with the Idaho Stampede, scored a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Babbitt is averaging 19.3 points in 27.9 minutes per game in his seven D-League appearances.

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Jarron Collins to a second 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho. Portland signed Collins to a 10-day contract on March 1.

He has appeared in three games for the Trail Blazers, totaling six rebounds and one assists. Collins, 32, holds career averages of 3.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 15.8 minutes in 540 games (216 starts) with Utah, Phoenix, L.A. Clippers and Portland.

Gerald Wallace is still unhappy about Charlotte's decision to trade him to the Blazers at the deadline.

Wallace believes cutting payroll was the main reason why he was traded and he's upset with how the situation was handled by general manager Rod Higgins.

"I don't even want to comment on that guy," Wallace said, before adding he believes Higgins was adamant in wanting to deal him. 

"I feel like that's been something he's been wanting to do."

Wallace is beginning to make a big contribution to the Blazers.

"I think my main thing was trying to learn the plays and trying to get over the shock of the trade and everything," Wallace said. "It took me a week to do that. Once that settled down and reality set in, you just move forward."