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Anthony helps Nuggets rally to defeat Pacers

Nov 11, 2007 - 5:12 AM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets came into the season with high expectations. They may have found the spark they needed.

Anthony scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Nuggets rallied from a huge deficit for a 113-106 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

Allen Iverson scored 27 points and handed out 10 assists and Linas Kleiza scored 12 of his season-high 21 in the second half for the Nuggets, who have won two straight following a three-game losing streak.

"It was a game that we very easily could have given in to Indiana and went home, but we didn't," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "This is one of those games that, if we have a special year, we might look back and say it was something that kicked us in the right direction."

It was also the Nuggets sixth straight win over the Pacers, including four in a row here.

Denver, which trailed by as many as 25 points in the first half, rallied to cut its deficit to 88-82 entering the final period.

"If this isn't a confidence boost, I don't know what is," Anthony said. "Our thing was to just try and bite into the lead a little bit (in the third quarter) and we did that quicker than we thought we would."

In the fourth quarter, after Jermaine O'Neal made the second of two free throws to give the Pacers a 101-97 lead, the Nuggets ran off a 12-0 spurt capped by a 3-pointer by Iverson to make it 109-101 with 26 seconds remaining.

"When you get in a situation (down 25) like that, you learn a lot about the players on your team," Iverson said. "You can see the fight still in them. They don't give up, they care about winning. That's even in a blow out. You continue to play the right way and keep the team mentality. With it being the just the seventh game, that was a good sign."

Anthony, who shot 10-of-23 from the floor, had six points in the run for Denver, which held Indiana to just 12 second-half field goals. After a jumper by Jamaal Tinsley cut the Pacers deficit to to six with 19 seconds left, free throws by Anthony and Iverson sealed the deal for the Nuggets.

"A story of two halves," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "I knew they would come back, because they have two of the greatest players in the world. We had difficulty finding ways to stop them down the stretch."

Denver shot 44 percent (36-of-82), including 12-of-31 from 3-point range.

Troy Murphy scored 18 points, Mike Dunleavy had 17 and O'Neal had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana, which has lost three straight.

"In the second half, we made bad decisions and took some bad shots," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "We knew they were going to come at us because they have Iverson and Carmelo. We have to have to figure out a way to close out a game."