NBA Game Summary - Denver at Indiana

Indianapolis, IN (Basketball News) - Carmelo Anthony drained a contested jumper from the right wing with 2.2 seconds left then watched as Peja Stojakovic’s three-pointer from the top of the circle rimmed out, as Denver held off Indiana, 101-99, at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Anthony’s heroics and Stojakovic’s miss capped a frantic final minute, in which the Denver star missed a left-handed layup in traffic and Stephen Jackson missed a pull-up jumper on the other end.

Denver called timeout and got the ball to Anthony, who scored a game-high 31 points, and he drained the jumper. The Pacers then called a timeout and Stojakovic’s three just rattled off the rim.

"Mel (Anthony) is a special guy at the end of games. He ran the clock perfectly and if he had missed the shot, we probably would have had the chance to tip it in," said Denver head coach George Karl. "Peja (Stojakovic) had a good shot at the end and it was probably a little further out than he would like to shoot. But fortunately for us, he missed it."

Andre Miller scored 21 points and dished out nine assists while Ruben Patterson tallied 14 points, as Denver won its second straight contest and improved to 4-1 on a road trip that concludes Friday in Memphis.

Stojakovic led Indiana with 22 points and Jackson added 21 while Jeff Foster and Danny Granger contributed 13 points apiece. Indiana made only 4-of-17 from beyond the arc in its second loss in three games.

"We got ourselves in some holes in the first half and haven’t been able to dig out of them. They were playing (at the outset) their game better than we were playing ours," Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle said.

The Pacers gradually chipped away during the third quarter, cutting a 61-47 halftime deficit to 82-74 at the period’s conclusion.

Denver took an 86-79 lead on Miller’s jumper with 8:20 to play and increased the advantage to 94-85 on Anthony’s jumper with 6:11 remaining.

Indiana stormed back, scoring the next six points capped by Foster’s free throw to make the score 94-91 with 3:26 on the clock.

After Miller made 1-of-2 from the stripe, Jackson made a pair of free throws to bring Indiana all the way back within 95-93. Anthony then missed a layup but Patterson collected the offensive rebound and converted two free throws after being fouled.

Stojakovic netted a three on the other end to make the score 97-96 with 2:29 left. Anthony scored in close and Anthony Johnson brought Conseco Fieldhouse to its feet with a three to square the contest and set up the final possessions.

After a relatively slow start to the contest, Denver opened a double-digit lead on the heels of a 13-6 run. Miller’s great feed set up Patterson’s layup then the point guard streaked through the lane for a layup to make the score 26-14.

Denver led 32-21 after the first stanza.

The Nuggets led comfortably for the majority of the second period and scored the half’s final six points. Patterson drained 2-of-4 from the stripe, Miller converted a layup and Earl Boykins’ jumper with two ticks remaining made the score 61-47.