Nuggets ready for Carmelo’s return

Anthony is averaging a league-best 31.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists this season. The Syracuse product is shooting over 50 percent from the field and has scored 30 or more points in 16 of the 22 games he has played in during the campaign.

Denver is in third place in the Northwest Division, five games behind the division-leading Utah Jazz and just one game in back of the second place Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to halt a two-game losing streak when they visit the Nuggets on Friday at the Pepsi Center. It is the first of two meetings this season between the Cavaliers and Denver. Cleveland is scheduled to host the Nuggets on March 25th at Quicken Loans Arena.

Cleveland has lost seven of 10 and 12 of its last 16 at Denver. The Nuggets have won five of the last seven contests in the series.

Denver tries to win back-to-back games for the first time in 2007 against the Cavaliers. Allen Iverson posted 32 points and nine assists, as the Nuggets downed the Trail Blazers, 109-93, on Sunday at the Rose Garden.

Steve Blake scored a career-high 25 points in the victory over Portland for the Nuggets, who have won just two of their last nine games overall. Denver is just 4-8 since acquiring Iverson from Philadelphia in December. J.R. Smith scored 13 points, while Marcus Camby grabbed 14 rebounds in the win.

The Nuggets are 10-10 at home this season. They will visit the Houston Rockets on Saturday at the Toyota Center. On January 12th, Shane Battier posted 25 points and seven rebounds as the Houston Rockets topped the Nuggets, 90-86, at the Pepsi Center. Denver has lost two of its last three at Houston.