Sure, it could have been better. But not much.
Getting Carmelo Anthony on the court was what the Nuggets wanted, and it was a much-needed shot in the arm for a team in search of additional sources of energy and inspiration.
After a 37-day layoff, Anthony scored a game-high 28 points in his return to the court, leading the Nuggets to a 115-98 victory over Memphis on Monday night at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets star, who had served a 15-game suspension for fighting, was greeted with a standing ovation from a capacity crowd and started the scoring with an easy basket.
His night was filled with ups and downs as he began the journey of knocking the rust off of his game.
Mostly, though, the Nuggets rolled. This time to their fourth straight victory on the first of a back-to-back that finishes tonight with a game at Seattle.
It was a small bit of revenge, because the Grizzlies beat the Nuggets the most recent time the teams played at the Pepsi Center, 108-96 on Nov. 28.
Denver sprinted out to a 10-2 lead that it stretched to a 38-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Anthony had six points on just 2-of-6 shooting and the Nuggets forced eight turnovers in the quarter.
Taking better care of the basketball, the Grizzlies fought back in the second quarter to close their halftime deficit to 59-47. They chopped the lead further in the third, but the Nuggets were able to hold them off and coasted in the fourth to get their 21st win of the season against 17 defeats.
The win was punctuated by an Allen Iverson-to-Anthony alley-oop dunk with 6:38 left that brought the crowd to its feet.
Iverson added 23 points and seven assists and Marcus Camby scored 17 points and 17 rebounds.
Pau Gasol, who has been the subject of recent trade rumors, led Memphis with 23 points.
