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Iverson, Nuggets bounce back against Suns

Apr 2, 2008 - 5:22 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- It was sweet revenge for the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

Allen Iverson had 31 points and Marcus Camby hit the go-ahead jumper late in the fourth quarter to help the Nuggets escape with a 126-120 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the finale of a home-and-home series.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points for Denver (46-29), which gained control over Golden State (45-29) for the eighth and final playoff spot by one-half game in the West.

"We are always going to fight out there," Anthony said. "We are always going to stay strong and tonight we took care of things down the stretch."

In the opener of the series, the Nuggets watched the Suns erase a commanding 22-point advantage in Monday's 132-117 setback in Phoenix.

Tied at 120-120, Camby hit a deep jumper at the top of the key over Shaquille O'Neal with just seconds left on the shot clock to put Denver ahead with 37 seconds remaining.

"Every game seems like the playoffs lately," Iverson said. "When you believe in each other and play hard, then good things are going to happen."

Phoenix still had a chance to force overtime after Anthony split a pair from the line, but Leandro Barbosa misfired from the right corner 10 seconds later.

"We should feel good about the game," Suns guard Steve Nash said. "It was our fourth game in five nights. I felt we played well enough to win, we just didn't get a lot of breaks."

Barbosa finished with 27 points and Amare Stoudemire added 25 and 10 rebounds for the Suns (50-25), who fell one-half game behind the idle Los Angeles Lakers (50-24) for first place in the Pacific Division.

"We had a chance to pull it out but couldn't get it done," Stoudemire said. "We definitely battled out there. We just didn't win the game."