Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Allen Iverson posted 34 points, seven assists and five steals, as the Denver Nuggets downed the Orlando Magic, 111-101, at the Pepsi Center.
"I feel good," Iverson said. "I took what the defense gave me. Our bench was key."
Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points for Denver, which won its second straight, in the opener of a three-game homestand. Eduardo Najera scored 17 points and Linas Kleiza netted 15 for the Nuggets, who are 15-15 at home this season. They are scheduled to host the Houston Rockets on Friday and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on March 6th.
Dwight Howard posted 23 points and 12 boards for Orlando, which has lost five of six. Jameer Nelson netted 16 points, Keyon Dooling 14, and Hedo Turkoglu added 12 in the loss.
Orlando is 10-19 on the road this season. The Magic are scheduled to visit the San Antonio Spurs on Friday at the AT&T Center and the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at American Airlines Center.
Orlando opened the game on a 13-2 burst finished by a Howard hook shot with 7:53 remaining. But, Denver quickly got going by responding on a 10-0 run, the latter eight points of which were scored by Anthony, for a 13-12 deficit with 4:15 to go. The clubs stayed neck-and-neck and the Nuggets edged a 22-21 lead heading into the second.
Denver managed to add just one more point to its lead in the second for a 46-44 halftime advantage, but started to pull away in the third. The Nuggets went on an 11-0 run highlighted by three Iverson buckets for a 73-60 lead with three ticks under four minutes left.
"We passed the ball much better tonight," Denver coach George Karl said. "AI (Iverson) came out angry in the second half."
Orlando stayed in the game by outscoring Denver 16-8 down the stretch to trail 81-76 heading into the fourth.
After a Carlos Arroyo free throw and a Howard dunk to open the final stanza, Denver blew the game open. The Nuggets embarked on a 14-4 run sparked by an Iverson trey with three ticks under 10 minutes remaining for a 92-81 lead with 7:16 to go.
Iverson scored on a three-pointer with 52.3 seconds left to bolster Denver's lead to double digits, and intercepted a pass on Orlando's final possession to seal the win.
Game Notes
This was the second and final meeting of the campaign between the clubs. On November 15th, Dooling scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Magic past Denver, 108-99, at TD Waterhouse Centre..Orlando has lost four straight after winning its last six at Denver.