Anthony leads Denver past Orlando

Ruben Patterson and Earl Boykins each tallied 21 points for the Nuggets, who avenged an earlier loss to Orlando and have won two of their last three games. Marcus Camby tallied 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Reggie Evans recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

"I thought our energy and focus were good tonight," said Denver head coach George Karl.

Grant Hill led the Magic, losers of their last five games, with 19 points. Dwight Howard scored 15 points and grabbed 11 boards. Carlos Arroyo added 12 points off the bench.

Leading by one in the third quarter, the Nuggets went on a 11-4 run that pushed their led to eight with after Anthony slammed home the ball with 6:19 left to play to cap the run. Denver led by nine at the end of the quarter, 82-73.

The Nuggets rolled off 10 straight points in the fourth quarter that pushed their lead to 15 with 8:37 left to play in the game. Boykins led the charge for Denver, scoring six straight points.

Orlando answered later in the period with a 8-0 run that brought them to within 98-88 with 4:23 left. However, Orlando did not get closer.

Denver then scored the next six points and the Magic were unable to provide any late game heroics.

The Nuggets shot a healthy 56.5 percent from the field and dominated the boards, outrebounding the Magic, 41-26.

Orlando shot a respectable 46.7 percent from the field.

The Nuggets scored the first five points of the game and held a 33-28 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Denver led Orlando by four at halftime, 53-49.

Game Notes

Jameer Nelson recorded his second double-double for Orlando, scoring 10 points and dishing out 10 assists...Patterson tied a career-high with eight assists...Orlando shot just 12.5 percent from behind the arc (1-for-8).