December 17th, 2009 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
The Denver Nuggets, despite their 19-7 record prior to hosting the Houston Rockets, as of late seem to be relying a bit too much on Carmelo Anthony’s offense to realize success; they had to lean on him a bit more as they lost Chauncey Billups to a groin injury during the second half. For at least one game, it worked as Anthony drained 38 points, helping Denver defeat Houston 111-101 at the Pepsi Center.
The Rockets started out relatively strong on a Trevor Ariza jumper, taking a 19-11 lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter; the Nuggets got a three-point play from Anthony to start an 11-0 run, putting them back out in front. After a tip-in by Ariza pulled the Rockets to within 49-46, Denver would score nine of the next 13 points, capped by a Ty Lawson reverse layup to put the Nuggets up 58-51 at halftime.
Houston would tie things up at 71-all in the third quarter when Ariza converted a three-point play; back-to-back three-pointers by Anthony and J.R. Smith helped the Nuggets open up a 95-82 with 6:52 left in the game. Anthony would make six straight free throws in the closing moments to ice the game for Denver.
Anthony led the Nuggets with 38 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, a steak and a block while Smith added 21 with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals; Billups chipped in 15 with 3 assists and a steal. The Rockets were led by Aaron Brooks with 23 points (including 3 three-pointers), a rebound, 7 assists and a steal while Ariza added 18 with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal; David Andersen came off the bench to score 17 with 9 rebounds.
Denver (19-7) plays again on Friday when they travel to the Big Easy to take on the New Orleans Hornets while Houston (14-11) goes to Dallas to face the Mavericks – also on Friday night.
Tags: 
