• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Anthony, Nuggets survive late scare by Warroirs

Nov 23, 2006 - 6:37 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets had to sweat this one out.

Anthony had 33 points and nine rebounds and Andre Miller added 17 and 10 assists as the Nuggets survived a late charge for a 115-112 triumph over the Golden State Warriors.

The Nuggets led by as many as 11 points in the final period and still held a 115-106 advantage with 51 seconds remaining before the Warriors made things interesting due in part to huge mistakes by Denver.

"Even though we didn't play that well, we once again put ourselves in a position to tie or win the game at the end," Golden State coach Don Nelson said.

Jason Richardson drained a 3-pointer and Mickael Pietrus stole an inbounds pass from Eduardo Najera and converted a three-point play with 37 seconds left to make it 115-112.

After Anthony was called for charging, Pietrus and Monta Ellis missed 3-pointers for Golden State. Miller missed two free throws, giving Mike Dunleavy Jr. a chance to send the game into overtime. But he misfired a 3-pointer as time expired.

"That's the shot we wanted and sometimes you miss and sometimes you make it," Pietrus said. "It's like life. There's nothing you can do about it. Just keep working and playing hard."

"A team like that (is) never going to quit," Anthony said. "They'll keep on going, keep on humping and they showed that. They're never going to give up."

Marcus Camby had 17 points and 16 rebounds and reserve Reggie Evans added nine and 14 for the Nuggets, who shot 49 percent (41-of-83) from the field and but made just 5-of-20 on 3-pointers.

"We told ourselves we wanted to win the rebounding game," Anthony said. "We wanted to get physical with them on the inside and I think that's what we did. Reggie came off the bench and gave us a big spark."

Richardson scored 24 points while Davis and Pietrus chipped in 21 apiece for Golden State, which shot 45 percent (42-of-93) and forced 23 turnovers.

The game was tied at 102-102 before the trio of Anthony, Miller and Camby combined to score all of Denver's next 12 points to rebuild a double-digit lead with 1:27 to go.

"Towards the end of the fourth quarter, we ran out of gas," Denver coach George Karl said. "They tied the game and then we came back and made plays. I think a lot of their success was due to our failures. We were beating ourselves a lot. It's Thanksgiving. (It's) my favorite holiday so I am not going to complain about it."