CLEVELAND (AP) -Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points, All-Star sidekick Allen Iverson added 25 and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 113-83 win Sunday night over the listless and limping Cleveland Cavaliers.
Anthony didn’t have to play in the fourth quarter and improved to 8-2 in his pro career against good friend LeBron James, who scored 30 points – in three quarters – but got little help from a Cleveland team missing four key players, including two starters.
Denver led by 11 points after one quarter, 18 at halftime and pushed its advantage to 26 by the end of the third. At the end of the period, James stormed off the court, took a seat at the far end of Cleveland’s bench and didn’t take part in coach Mike Brown’s huddle before the fourth quarter began.
As he sat alone, Cavaliers guard Damon Jones yelled in James’ direction. But Cleveland’s superstar never acknowledged his teammate and stared straight ahead without saying a word.
Iverson added 13 assists and Marcus Camby 17 rebounds for Denver.
Lakers 104, Heat 94
3 points, and Los Angeles used a 16-2 second-half run to pull away and beat the skidding Heat in Miami’s first home game of its post-Shaquille O’Neal era.
Mark Blount finished with 22 points for Miami, which has lost seven straight and 22 of its last 23. Dwyane Wade scored 19 and Shawn Marion, playing his first game for the Heat since Wednesday’s stunning deal that sent O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns for he and Marcus Banks, finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Lamar Odom finished with 15 points and 18 rebounds for the Lakers, who’ve won five of seven so far on a nine-game road trip that’ll take them to the All-Star break. Sasha Vujacic scored 13 points and Pau Gasol added 12.
Celtics 98, Spurs 90
BOSTON (AP) – Paul Pierce scored 35 points, Ray Allen had 19, and Rajon Rondo had 12 assists and 11 rebounds as Boston improved to 5-2 since losing Kevin Garnett to an abdominal strain.
Coach Doc Rivers said before the game that he isn’t expecting his big man back before next weekend’s All-Star break.
Tim Duncan had 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and Manu Ginobili scored 21 for the Spurs, who lost for the first time in five games. San Antonio got within four points in the final minute, but twice Ginobili was forced to take off-balance 3s that weren’t even close.
up with his second big rebound of the final minute. Rondo made both free throws after he was fouled, then Michael Finley made a 3 to make it 94-90.
Tony Allen made a pair of free throws, and Ginobili again couldn’t get a clean look.
Nets 101, Mavericks 82
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Vince Carter scored 25 of his 29 points after nearly being knocked out by an elbow to the head, and inconsistent New Jersey off 21 straight points to stun Dallas.
Richard Jefferson added 19 points and Jason Kidd put aside trade rumors once again to finish with 13 points, 14 assists and six rebounds, falling four rebounds shy of his 100th career triple-double.
Josh Boone and rookie Sean Williams, who had 15 points, did a great job of frustrating Dirk Nowitzki, limiting the All-Star forward to 21 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Nowitzki had only 10 points after the first quarter and most of those were in garbage time in the fourth quarter.
Josh Howard added 16 points for Dallas, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The 19-point losing margin was the second largest of the season for the Mavericks.
Pistons 113, Bobcats 87
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) – Tayshaun Prince scored 14 of his 21 points in the first quarter and Detroit won its eighth straight game.
Richard Hamilton added 18 for Detroit, which had seven players with at least eight points.
Jason Richardson, playing 30 minutes south of his hometown, led all scorers with 27 points.
Detroit led 27-7 after just nine minutes, aided by Charlotte missing 12 of their first 14 shots. Prince outscored the Bobcats by a point in the quarter, hitting four 3-pointers and adding two rebounds and two assists.
Raptors 105, Timberwolves 82
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Andrea Bargnani scored 16 points and Jose Calderon had 15 points and 10 assists for his second consecutive double-double to help Toronto beat Minnesota.
All-Star Chris Bosh added 14 points for the Raptors, and T.J. Ford had seven points and 13 assists, his highest totals since returning to the lineup from injury Feb. 4.
Al Jefferson led Minnesota with 18 points.
The Raptors shot just over 50 percent from the floor. They have shot at least 50 percent in their last four wins since Jan. 25. In their three losses, they’ve shot under 44 percent.
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