Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Carmelo Anthony dropped 30 points and Nene scored 20, as the Denver Nuggets slowed a red-hot Oklahoma City club with a convincing 119-90 win at the Pepsi Center.
Carmelo Drops 30 On Thunder, Nuggets Roll 119-90
J.R. Smith was 4-of-5 from three-point range to end with 18 points for the Nuggets, who were coming off back-to-back losses to fellow West heavyweights, the Suns and Lakers.
Chauncey Billups and Chris Andersen chipped in 13 points each, Anthony Carter had a game-high 12 assists and Kenyon Martin pulled down 13 rebounds.
Kevin Durant and James Harden had 19 points apiece for the Thunder, who had won three in a row and 12 of 14 overall entering Wednesday. Serge Ibaka came up with 15 points and 13 boards in the loss.
The Thunder were within nine, 61-52, at halftime but scored only a dozen points in the third quarter as Denver opened up a whopping 28-point lead, 92-64, heading to the fourth.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets scored the first seven points to grab a 16-point advantage on Billups’ layup two minutes in.
Anthony then stroked a three-pointer to answer a long distance make from Durant, beginning a stretch of 14 straight points for the hosts that made it an 84-57 game.
A 14-2 Denver run to start the final period put the game completely out of reach for Oklahoma City, which found itself down 40, 106-66, after Arron Afflalo threw in a reverse layup three minutes in.
The Nuggets were up 32-25 after 12 minutes and held a nine-point edge entering the break.
It was only the second time in 34 games that Durant hadn't scored at least 25...Russell Westbrook was 3-of-11 shooting for 11 points with six assists for the Thunder...Anthony added eight rebounds and five assists to an 11-of-19 shooting night...The Oklahoma City franchise has dropped six straight in Denver, which is a stout 26-5 at home this season...The Thunder dropped to 17-13 on the road...Denver shot 50.6 percent from the floor compared with Oklahoma City's subpar 32.5-percent showing.
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