’Melo leads Nuggets over Cavs

Nene posted 21 points and nine rebounds for Denver, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Allen Iverson notched 18 points and 12 assists and Linas Kleiza had 14 points for the Nuggets, who are 2-2 so far on a five-game road trip.

The Nuggets will close out the trek at Detroit on Monday. In injury news for Denver, forward Eduardo Najera (leg) remained sidelined, and center Marcus Camby (back) had four points, six boards and six assists.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who are just 2 1/2 games behind the Detroit Pistons in both the Central Division and Eastern Conference standings. LeBron James also netted 18 points and Larry Hughes added 17. Drew Gooden posted 12 points and 10 boards for the Cavs, who have lost three of four.

The Cavs edged a slight lead after 12 minutes, 25-23, but, after Donyell Marshall’s layup 17 seconds into the second, Denver went on a 12-2 run highlighted by a pair of Kleiza treys for a 35-30 lead with 9:18 remaining. The Nuggets led 55-53 at halftime.

With the score deadlocked at 75 late in the third, the Nuggets rattled off six straight for an 81-75 lead heading into the fourth.

After J.R. Smith’s reverse dunk 33 seconds into the final stanza, Cleveland went on an 8-0 spurt capped by an Ilgauskas layup at 9:09 to tie things at 83. With Denver holding a four-point lead, 97-93, the Nuggets scored the game’s final eight points to cruise to victory.

Game Notes

This showdown between Denver and Cleveland was the second and final meeting of the regular season. The Nuggets won the first matchup, 110-99, on January 19 at the Pepsi Center and have won four of five and seven of the last nine meetings...Denver, though, has lost eight of 11 and 12 of its last 16 at Cleveland.