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Anthony, Iverson guide Nuggets in rout of Blazers

Nov 15, 2007 - 6:38 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- The Denver Nuggets can score with just about any team. The Portland Trail Blazers cannot seem to buy a win on the road.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and Allen Iverson added 20 more to help the Nuggets rout the Trail Blazers, 110-93, on Wednesday.

Denver, which entered the contest as the second-highest scoring team in the NBA at 108.1 points per game, did nothing to suppress that average.

Meanwhile, Portland fell to 0-4 on the road - as opposed to 4-0 at home - and appeared listless after recording an impressive 102-94 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.

The Nuggets pulled away early and outscored the Blazers in each of the first three quarters. After LaMarcus Aldridge hit a jumper midway through the first quarter to give Portland a 10-9 lead, Denver would not trail again as Anthony capped off an 8-0 run with a long jumper.

"We want to get out on the open court and attack," Anthony said. "It's still early in the season, but our approach is to let everyone know that it isn't going to be easy to come in here and play against us."

After Portland trimmed its deficit to 27-24 early in the second, Denver expanded the bulge with another 7-0 run to push its advantage to 34-24 midway through the second. From there, Anthony carried the Nuggets to a 52-38 lead at intermission, scoring 10 of the team's 22 points over the last six minutes of the half.

"We didn't have a bad defensive series the whole night," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "Our focus has been a lot better out there. So far, November has been good to us but we have a lot of work to do."

Iverson took over in the third period - scoring 10 of his points in the quarter - and once again extended Denver's lead to 78-61 at the end of three quarters.

"Defensively, I think we made our presence felt," Iverson said. "We had a good all-around game tonight. The only thing that can stop us as a team is if we stop playing defense out there."

Reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby added 13 rebounds and five blocks for the Nuggets, who overcame a 1-of-13 effort from the arc to win their third Northwest Division game in as many tries.

Aldridge posted 15 points and nine boards for Portland, which fell to 1-3 in back-to-back games.

"They were more physical then we were out there and they pretty much set the tone from the start by being aggressive and physical," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "We certainly looked like we had heavy legs. Our shots were all falling short tonight."

"It was a tought game," Portland guard Jarrett Jack said. "We got in here at three or four in the morning. That isn't an excuse, that is the way it is. We need to put this one behind us."