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Camby helps Nuggets run by Cavaliers

Jan 20, 2007 - 7:46 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- With the return of the NBA's leading scorer imminent, Marcus Camby made sure the star came back with the club playing above .500.

Camby scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Nuggets posted a 110-99 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Allen Iverson had 25 points and nine assists and J.R. Smith added 14 points off the bench for Denver (19-17), which plays one more game before welcoming back Carmelo Anthony from suspension Monday.

Anthony was fined and suspended 15 games by the NBA for his part in a brawl with the New York Knicks on December 16.

Denver hopes Anthony, who averages a league-high 31.6 points, will team with the recently acquired Iverson to lead the Nuggets to second-half - and postseason - success.

"The boost is going to be getting Carmelo back," Iverson said. "It's as simple as that. He is such a big part of our team that not having him in the lineup is tough for us. One more to go."

Camby had 15 points and Iverson had 10 to stake the Nuggets to a 64-45 halftime advantage.

"I thought Camby played like an All-Star center tonight," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He had great presence on the court and I thought his offense was great. I thought we beat a great team tonight."

"We did a poor job in the first half of allowing them to get out and run," Cavaliers superstar LeBron James said. "Against a team like this, you've just got to try to slow it down as much as possible, and in their building they are very tough."

Denver shot 51 percent (41-of-81) from the field and withstood the first triple-double of the season by James, who tallied 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Cleveland has lost three straight games and four of its last five.

"We've kind of gotten away from our identity these last three games," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "We face teams out West that like to get out and run, and we've fallen into the trap of trying to get out and run with them."

Reserve Donyell Marshall scored 14 points and Larry Hughes added 13 for the Cavaliers, who shot 42 percent (35-of-83) and have lost five of their last seven vs. the Nuggets.