The Indiana Pacers, despite this early juncture of the regular season, are going through some issues. By and large, they are health-related as evidenced by injuries to Mike Dunleavy, Tyler Hansbrough and Jeff Foster.

Even with that misfortune, they had a game to play on Tuesday at Conseco Fieldhouse against the Denver Nuggets. Unlike the Pacers, the Nuggets don’t have the high amount of health issues and it showed; two of the usual suspects – Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups – combined for 49 points, enabling Denver to make short work of Indiana, 111-93.

The first quarter was all Denver as they shot very well except for Anthony who shot 1-for-7 in the period; they would take a commanding 30-13 lead going into the second quarter. Troy Murphy would not finish the game as he bruised his lower back late in the first quarter. The second period was a bit more evenly played; the Nuggets would take a 55-39 going into halftime.

The Pacers cut the Nuggets’ lead to 59-50 on a layup by Dauntay Jones, but Billups would respond with a three-pointer; Indiana would start building up some momentum but Billups would strike back with another trey. Anthony would follow that up with a breakaway dunk to give Denver a sizable 71-55 lead; they would go into the final quarter up 83-71. The Nuggets would pull away in the final 15 minutes to secure the victory.

Anthony led all Nuggets scorers with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block while Billups added 24 (including 5 three-pointers) with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal; Nene Hilario secured a double-double, scoring 16 with 13 rebounds and 2 assists while Arron Affalo came off the bench to score 15 with 3 rebounds and an assist.

Jones led Indiana with 20 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a block while Danny Granger added 18 with 4 rebounds and 3 steals; Roy Hibbert nabbed a double-double, scoring 14 with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and 4 blocks. Denver (4-0) plays again on Wednesday when they fly to New Jersey to take on the Nets while Indiana (0-3) look for their first win of the season when they go to the Big Apple to take on the New York Knicks – also on Wednesday night.