NBA Game Summary - Denver at Washington

Washington, DC (Basketball News) - Earl Boykins scored 20 points, including a big three-pointer with under two minutes left in the game, as the Denver Nuggets downed the Washington Wizards, 108-105, at the MCI Center.

Carmelo Anthony netted 28 points, including 18-of-22 from the free-throw line, with 11 boards, and Marcus Camby added 24 points and 14 rebounds, and came up with a huge block at the end for the Nuggets, who have won four straight games.

"This is a big win for us," Camby said. "I told the guys before the game that we needed to have a good week. It is a great win for us to start the road trip."

Denver. which concludes a short two-game road trip with a game at Detroit on Wednesday, has now beaten Washington in six straight contests.

Gilbert Arenas scored a game-high 36 points with 10 assists for the Wizards, who lost their fourth game in a row. Antawn Jamison added 26 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.

"We fought back after we started slow, and our second unit got us back in the game," Arenas said. "From there we fought, but we had mental breakdowns as a team towards the end."

The Nuggets would take the lead early in the fourth and extended to an 82-78 edge after Boykins’ three-pointer with 9 1/2 minutes left. Denver would never hold more then a four-point lead until Camby’s basket put the Nuggets up 91-86 with 5:24 remaining.

Camby would then extend the Nuggets to a 97-91 advantage with 3 1/2 minutes left until the Wizards went on an 8-2 run to knot the contest at 99. The two teams then traded free throws and Boykins knocked down a three-point bucket to make it 104-101 with 1:31 remaining.

Jamison and Miller would exchange baskets to make it 106-103 and it would remain a three-point game after two Camby free throws and a basket by Arenas. Arenas would then have a three-point look in the waning seconds, but his shot was blocked from behind by Camby, sealing the win for Denver.

"Marcus is great and has great length," Nuggets head coach George Karl said. "He has a lot of pride and there is no big man playing better basketball than him today. He has had huge games for us."

Washington’s 7-2 run made it a 63-61 game with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Then, after Camby put the Nuggets ahead 64-63, Washington would never trail again in the third after a 7-0 spurt gave the Wizards a 70-64 lead with 3:23 remaining.

Arenas’ conversion from behind the arc later extended Washington to a 77-68 edge, but Denver closed out the frame on a 6-0 spurt to cut it to 77-74 heading into the fourth.

In the first, Denver found itself down 7-6 before a 10-0 run put the Nuggets up 16-7. Later, up 19-11, a 6-0 run extended the Nuggets to a 25-11 edge with just over two minutes remaining in the first stanza. Washington responded with a 10-0 run to cut it to 25-21 and Denver saw its lead at 27-21 after one frame.

The Nuggets opened up the second with six straight points and Eduardo Najera’s three-pointer later put Denver up 38-26, 3:50 into the second. Washington then went on a 9-2 spurt to cut it to 40-35 and another 6-0 run later pulled the Wizards to within 43-41.

Andre Miller’s bucket with just over two minutes left in the first half would put Denver up 50-44 and the Nuggets held a 55-51 lead at halftime.