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Knicks-Nuggets Preview

Nov 26, 2009 - 5:24 PM By PAUL DIGIACOMO STATS Senior Editor

New York (3-12) at Denver (11-4), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Carmelo Anthony is tied for second in the NBA in scoring, helping the Denver Nuggets put up the third-most points per game in the league. Both of those figures could rise Friday night.

Denver looks to continue taking advantage of a soft spot in its schedule and win for the 17th straight time at home when it takes on the defensively challenged New York Knicks.

The Nuggets (11-4), winners of three in a row, have jumped out to a quick start behind Anthony and the offense. After averaging his fewest points since 2004-05 last season with 22.8, Anthony is scoring a career-best 29.7 per game - tied with LeBron James for second in the league behind Kobe Bryant (30.1).

His scoring surge has Denver third in the NBA with 108.5 points per game, and the team has averaged 112.5 in winning its last two over winless New Jersey and 1-14 Minnesota.

Denver will now get to play New York (3-12), which is allowing 107.6 points per game to rank 28th in the league, before hosting the Timberwolves on Sunday and Golden State - which gives up an NBA-high 111.5 points a contest - on Tuesday.

"We know that those teams are not playing very well at the time and we are playing pretty good," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "We know that the most important part of those games are early in those games, taking their confidence away. Letting them know, not tonight. That's been key for us and I think we've been doing a great job in those situations."

Denver got things going early Wednesday in Minneapolis, taking a 24-point lead in the first half en route to a 124-111 win. Anthony had 22 points in a season-low 29 minutes, giving him 20 or more in 15 straight games to start the season to break the franchise record set by Alex English.

The Nuggets are opening a four-game stretch at home, where they are 6-0 and have won 16 straight in the regular season since a 97-95 loss to Houston on March 9.

New York fell to 0-2 on a three-game trip with its third straight loss Wednesday night, 111-97 to Sacramento. The Knicks, led by David Lee's 25 points and 12 rebounds, trailed by 10 at halftime and were down 93-73 heading into the fourth quarter.

"It just all went down hill from the beginning," guard Chris Duhon said. "They knocked down shots and we weren't able to rebound. It's tough. We keep putting ourselves in these positions where every shot is so important because we are down by so much."

The Knicks shot 10 of 39 from 3-point range. They lead the NBA with 433 attempts from beyond the arc but are shooting 30.7 percent from that distance.

New York went 18 for 57 (31.6 percent) on its 3-point attempts in losing both meetings with Denver last season. The Nuggets averaged 114.0 points, with Anthony scoring 30.5 per game and shooting 66.7 percent from the field (26 for 39).

Denver has won three straight overall against the Knicks and seven of the last nine meetings at home.