Oakland, Calif. – Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony’s franchise-tying 30-plus scoring streak ended at six games after he scored 29 points against Chicago on Tuesday. A day later, the NBA’s leading scorer started another 30-point streak.
Anthony scored 33 points to lead the Nuggets to a 115-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night. The fourth-year Nugget has now scored at least 29 points in eight straight games. Anthony made 12-of-18 shots and 9-of-10 free throws and added nine rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes.
The Nuggets (6-4) have now won six of their last seven games and improved to 4-2 on the road. Denver and Golden State (7-5) meet again Friday at the Pepsi Center. The Warriors were led by Jason Richardson’s 24 points.
“We’ve won six of seven and we have to keep it going,” Anthony said. “It was a scary ending. But we had to keep our composure, especially on the road. It seems like we’ve been in that situation every game we’ve played so far.
“We’ll take the win. We’ll take it.”
The Nuggets were up 114-104 with 1:27 remaining after an Andre Miller jumper. But the Warriors used an 8-1 run to trim the deficit to 115-112 after a three-point play by Mickael Pietrus. Anthony committed an offensive charge with 18.9 seconds left to give Golden State one last chance to tie the game. But the Warriors couldn’t tie on their next possession, as Richardson and Monta Ellis both missed 3-pointers with less than 10 seconds left.
After being fouled, Miller could have put the game away by making just one of two free throws with 1.9 seconds left. He missed both, giving the Warriors one last chance to tie. Golden State had made 10-of-28 3-pointers to that point. The Warriors’ Mike Dunleavy Jr. attempted a wild 3-pointer in front of two Nuggets and their bench as the buzzer sounded. Dunleavy’s attempt bounced off the rim, the crowd groaned and the Nuggets held on.
“I can’t wait until we play decent,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “It’s the same thing, man – a 10-point lead, make it close. We’ve only done it every game.
“It’s exciting winning six of seven, a lot of them on the road. Every game we’ve played we’ve been in. I think the team has to stay set on getting better, and I think we’ve done that so far.”
The Nuggets were up as many as 10 points in the first half before settling for a 61-58 halftime lead. Anthony scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds by intermission. Denver fell three points shy of tying a season high for first-half points, having scored 64 against Toronto on Nov. 18.
The Warriors tied the game at 78 on a Richardson lay-in with 6:02 left in the third. The Nuggets got breathing room, going on a 9-1 run for an 87-79 lead after a layup by Miller. The Nuggets finished the third with a 93-83 lead, including 29 points from Anthony.
After being fouled by Denver’s Linas Kleiza while shooting a 3-pointer, Pietrus made all three free throws to slice his team’s deficit to 93-86 with 10:49 left in the fourth quarter. Sixteen seconds later, Pietrus had a three-point play to make it 93-89.
With Anthony on the bench, the Nuggets used a 7-0 run to gain a comfortable 100-89 lead. Anthony returned with 7:39 left and Denver up 100-93.
Golden State’s 10-0 run, which included seven points from Baron Davis, trimmed Denver’s lead to 100-99 with 6:31 left. After a dunk by Marcus Camby, Golden State’s Troy Murphy hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 102, revving up the crowd with 5:34 remaining.
Anthony’s jumper gave Denver a 108-104 lead. Camby’s two free throws with 2:39 left pushed the Nuggets up 110-104. Camby’s alley-oop dunk from Miller with 2:10 left made it 114-104.
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
