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Nuggets aim to stay hot at home vs. Magic

Dec 14, 2010 - 4:07 PM (Sports Network) - With Carmelo Anthony's immediate future hanging in the balance the Denver Nuggets will return to the cozy confines of the Pepsi Center tonight, shooting for their 10th consecutive home win versus the Orlando Magic.

The Nuggets are coming off a disappointing 1-3 road trip, culminating with a 129-125 setback to the New York Knicks on Sunday. Wilson Chandler hit a go- ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter on his way to scoring 27 points in that one for New York.

Anthony returned to the lineup after sitting out two games with a right knee injury and ended with a game-high 31 points to go with 13 rebounds for Denver, which was unable to build off Friday's 123-116 decision at Toronto, a victory that gave head coach George Karl his 1,000th career win. Nene added 26 points in defeat.

The Knicks, of course, have been the rumored favorite landing spot for Anthony, who can become a free agent next summer after turning down a three- year, $65 million extension from Denver in the offseason. Things heated up over the weekend when reports surfaced that the three-time All-Star told the Nuggets that the Knicks were the only team with which he would sign an extension with.

"More of the drama," Anthony said. "I was there and so it was a hot topic to talk about it. I'm not worrying about it. That's not my focus right now."

Denver is 10-1 in the Rocky Mountains this season.

The Magic, who are finishing a four-game road trip tonight, stopped a four- game skid on Sunday with a 94-84 win in Los Angeles against the Clippers. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and Jameer Nelson added 17 with nine assists in that one.

Brandon Bass had a double-double, posting 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Vince Carter also scored 13 as the Magic avoided losing five straight games for the first time in four seasons.

"Great start, great first half, horrible second half," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "But we had enough to get the win."

The Magic have dropped six of their seven visits to the Rockies since Anthony entered the league in 2003-04, including all six Anthony has played in.