DENVER—Carmelo Anthony returned from an ankle injury to score 25 points, Allen Iverson had 24 points and 13 assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Charlotte Bobcats 117-101 on Saturday night.
Linas Kleiza came off the bench to add 23 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, as the Nuggets won their eighth straight game at the Pepsi Center. The team is now 20-5 at home this season. Denver didn’t earn its 20th home win last season until April 4.
Jason Richardson tied a season high with 38 points, and Emeka Okafor added 20 points and 18 rebounds. Raymond Felton, playing on a sprained left ankle, scored 14 points.
Anthony missed five games with a sprained left ankle after awkwardly landing on the foot of Kobe Bryant on Jan. 21. The Nuggets were 3-2 in Anthony’s absence.
The Bobcats have lost four of their last five games, including three straight road games.
The Bobcats were seemingly in control of the game, leading 87-77 late in the third quarter, when the Nuggets surged ahead. Denver went on a 23-3 run—including 15 straight points at one point—to wrap up its second straight win.
Charlotte coach Sam Vincent reached his boiling point late in the fourth quarter, and screamed at the officials. He was ejected after being assessed a double technical.
Gerald Wallace didn’t play after spraining his right ankle the night before in a 127-96 loss to Golden State.
Vincent said he expected Wallace to be out about a week. The Bobcats forward, averaging 21.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, had a season-high 40 points against Denver on Jan. 14.
The Nuggets were without Marcus Camby (left knee bruise) and Eduardo Najera (rib injury), leading to easy dunks and layups by the Bobcats all night long.
Camby has been bothered by the knee the past few games and decided to give it a rest. Najera was injured taking a charge in the fourth quarter against Memphis on Wednesday.
Steven Hunter made his first start of the season in place of Camby, and scored eight points in more than 27 minutes.
Notes:@ Bobcats guards Earl Boykins played 12:28 against his former team. Boykins was signed by Charlotte on Thursday to provide backcourt depth. “We’re excited about Earl,” Vincent said. “After a couple weeks of shaking off the rust, he’s going to be a guy that can come in and score for us.” … Asked why Camby didn’t make his first All-Star game this season, Nuggets coach George Karl responded, “Bad luck. Some of these other guys have 10 years to get there, Marcus probably has just a few.” … Nuggets F Kenyon Martin and G Anthony Carter both finished with 10 points. … Anthony pulled down 10 rebounds, giving him his 12th double-double of the season.
