Anthony leads Nuggets over Mavericks

Allen Iverson added 22 points for the Nuggets, who won their fourth straight game and are now 1 1/2 games ahead of the LA Clippers for the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff race. Denver remains just one-half game behind the LA Lakers for the sixth spot.

Nene chipped in with 16 points for the Nuggets.

Dirk Nowitzki returned from a bout of food poisoning to score 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, who remain on top of the Western Conference with a comfortable lead. Jason Terry chipped in with 13 points, while Erick Dampier had 11.

Denver took a precarious one-point edge into the fourth quarter but the Mavs scored the first six points in the frame to regain control. Nowitzki connected on consecutive buckets to cap the mini-run and give Dallas a 57-52 cushion with less than two minutes gone in the stanza.

The Nuggets hung around, however, and deadlocked things at 62 when Nene converted a three-point play with a little over six minutes to go.

Things remained tight as the game headed toward the stretch. A pair of Nowitzki free throws evened things at 71 with under two minutes to go. But, Anthony went back door to haul in an alley-oop with 1:11 remaining to give Denver the advantage, 73-71.

Anthony then sealed things by intercepting a cross court Nowitzki pass and then draining a pair of free throws with 9.2 ticks left.

The Mavericks used a stifling defense to take a 22-13 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

The defensive theme continued in the second quarter as the team’s combined for just 32 points and Dallas took a seven-point edge, 37-30, into the locker room. Iverson and Anthony combined to shoot a miserable 6-for-24 in the half and the Mavs weren’t much better, hitting on 33 percent as a team.

Denver finally got things going a bit in the third quarter behind Iverson. The enigmatic guard had nine points in the stanza as the Nuggets jumped in front, 52-51.

Game Notes

Mavs forward Josh Howard sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and was held out the rest of the way...The Mavericks are now 29-9 on the road this season...The Nuggets are 21-18 at home this season.