Bucks 94 - 105 Nuggets
Final
  for this game

Nuggets, Bucks meet in the Rockies

Dec 1, 2010 - 4:12 PM (Sports Network) - A Denver Nuggets team shooting for its fifth straight win welcomes the Milwaukee Bucks to Pepsi Center tonight.

The Nuggets earned their fourth straight triumph and improved to 2-0 on a five-game homestand on Sunday when Chauncey Billups returned from a sprained right wrist to score 25 points and made four key free throws down the stretch as Denver survived a Phoenix rally for a 138-133 win.

Denver, which led by as many as 19 in the game, earned its fourth straight win behind J.R. Smith's 30 bench points after Carmelo Anthony left the game with a chest cold.

Anthony, who had scored in double-digits for 134 consecutive games, left after playing just 2:48 and scoring two points. Nuggets head coach George Karl said it was the right move.

"Melo knows how important he is to us and I think he probably made the right decision. He didn't look very good. He didn't look like a healthy guy," the coach said.

"Everybody stepped up and made plays in Anthony's absence," Denver guard Arron Afflalo added. "J.R. was really, really efficient. He made a lot of tough shots."

Anthony remains questionable for tonight's contest.

The Nuggets, who are 7-1 at Pepsi Center, will finish their residency with bouts against the LA Clippers and Memphis.

The Bucks, meanwhile, dropped the opener of a brief two-game road trip in Salt Lake City on Monday when Deron Williams and Al Jefferson both finished with 22 points as the Utah Jazz easily topped Milwaukee, 109-88.

Brandon Jennings led Milwaukee with a game-high 27 points and Chris Douglas- Roberts chipped in 19 points for the Bucks, who have lost six of seven overall. Ersan Ilyasova scored 18 and led Milwaukee with six rebounds in defeat.

"We hung in there for a while," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "But we had that stretch to kind of start the third where we actually played some decent defense. Which was a struggle for us tonight as well and got some stops but then they just got on the glass on us."

Center Andrew Bogut missed his fourth straight game against Utah with back spasms while forward Drew Gooden was out with a foot injury. Bogut remains doubtful for tonight while Gooden is questionable.

Milwaukee has won three straight over the Nuggets and four of the past five meetings in the series.






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