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Anthony, Iverson lead red-hot Nuggets against Bulls

Feb 22, 2008 - 1:37 PM Denver (33-20) at Chicago (21-32) 8:00 pm EST

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Denver Nuggets are rolling but they will need to keep winning if they are going to stay in the playoff picture.

The Nuggets aim for their second-straight win and fifth in six games when they visit the Chicago Bulls on Friday.

Carmelo Anthony scored 29 points while Allen Iverson added 28 and nine assists to lead Denver to perhaps its most impressive win of the season on Tuesday - a 124-118 victory over the Boston Celtics.

With the win, the Nuggets remained tied with the Houston Rockets for seventh place in the Western Conference standings and 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Utah Jazz in the Northwest Division.

Anthony and Iverson have been a lethal combination in their first full campaign together after the lightning-quick point guard was acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

Iverson currently ranks third in the NBA, averaging 26.5 points per game while Anthony is fourth in the league, just two-tenths of a point behind his teammate.

The Bulls dropped two of its last three games before the All-Star break and failed to get back on track during their first game on Wednesday, suffering a 110-102 setback to the New Jersey Nets.

The team made headlines Thursday by trading Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and Adrian Griffin in an 11-player, three-team deal in which the Bulls received power forward Drew Gooden, shooting guard Larry Hughes, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The availability of the newly-acquired players for Friday's game is uncertain.