DENVER-
Allen Iverson scored 44 points and dished out 15 assists in leading the Denver Nuggets to a 131-107 blowout of the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Carmelo Anthony augmented Iverson’s night with 29 points in 32 minutes in the duo’s best performance since the holiday trade that brought them together three months ago.
Iverson made 16-of-22 shots from the field and Anthony was 13-for-20.
The Suns have lost twice—by a combined 46 points—since their 129-127 double-overtime win at Dallas on Wednesday night. They lost to Detroit 105-83 Friday night, which coach Mike D’Antoni blamed on emotional exhaustion.
The Suns never led in this one and fell behind by 38 points entering the fourth quarter against a team that they might face in the first round of the playoffs next month.
Iverson was 10-for-12 from the foul line and also grabbed five rebounds.
Anthony had 19 points by halftime and Iverson had 13 points and 10 assists at the break as the Nuggets took a 70-44 lead into the locker room.
Iverson’s drive to the basket made it 111-73 heading into the fourth quarter.
Nene had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Camby added 12 points and eight rebounds, both in limited minutes for the Nuggets, who have won four in a row entering a tough stretch in which they’ll play eight of their next nine games on the road.
The Suns had won 24 of 28 road games and had gone 9-1 against Denver in their past 10 meetings. They trailed 37-25 after one quarter and it only got worse from there in what was easily the Nuggets’ best game of the season.
The Nuggets shot 68 percent in the first half and the Suns shot just 33 percent.
Denver has struggled all season to get any cohesion because of injuries, illnesses, trades and suspensions. The Nuggets have started to put it together lately, and this was the night it finally all came together for them.
Anthony drew the foul and some of the loudest cheers of the night when his third attempt at a putback resulted in the whistle, and his two free throws made it 109-73 in the waning seconds of the third quarter.
Reserve Leandro Barbosa led the Suns with 25 points.
Notes:@ Iverson’s season-high is 46 points against Chicago on Nov. 24 while he was still with the Sixers. He also had 44 against Seattle on Dec. 28 in one of his first few games with the Nuggets. … Nash, the NBA’s assist leader at 11.6 a game, had just two assists in the first half one night after getting just one first-half assist against Detroit. … The Nuggets play just one more home game before April 4.
