’Melo get best of D-Wade in South Beach

Miami, FL (Basketball News) - Carmelo Anthony poured in a season-high 40 points, as the Denver Nuggets rallied from a late fourth-quarter deficit to post a 100-92 win over the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Marcus Camby finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Denver, which has won three straight games following a three-game skid. Greg Buckner chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds for the Nuggets, who closed the game on a 12-0 run.

Dwyane Wade netted a season-high 37 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Heat, who have dropped four straight games. Antoine Walker added 17 points and eight rebounds for Miami, which missed its last five shots.

"It was a Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony show," said Denver head coach George Karl.

With the game tied after three quarters, Denver held an 88-87 lead with 3:14 to go, but the Heat quickly reeled off five straight points, to grab a four- point edge in the waning minutes.

However, the Nuggets countered by scoring the game’s final 12 points en route to the hard-fought win.

Anthony started the crucial spurt with two free throws, and after a pair of Miami misses, Camby followed with a jumper with around one minute left to tie the game. Walker then missed a three-pointer and Buckner converted a breakaway layup with 28.5 seconds to go to make it 94-92.

The Heat then turned the ball over on their ensuing possession, and Anthony was immediately fouled where he drained both free throws to give Denver a four-point lead with 14 seconds left.

Wade’s miss then ended any hopes of a late Miami comeback, as the Nuggets sealed the win by hitting four foul shots in the final seconds.

"We knew going down the stretch they liked going to Dwyane Wade," said Camby. "He’s hard to stop...We showed mental toughness down the stretch."

Miami trailed 15-13 after one quarter and held a 43-42 halftime edge. The teams then headed into the fourth quarter deadlocked at 67-67.

Game Notes

Anthony was 13-of-30 from the floor, but 13-of-14 from the foul line...Wade ended 17-of-21 from the charity stripe...Denver, which began a six-game road trip, improved to 3-6 as the visitor this season...The Heat are 7-3 at home...The Nuggets swept the season-series and have taken six of the last eight meetings...Denver, though, did win for only the third time in its last 16 trips to South Beach...Miami center Alonzo Mourning was ejected early in the third quarter after receiving a pair of technical fouls for arguing calls.