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Red-hot Nuggets face scorching Cavaliers

Dec 19, 2008 - 2:19 PM Cleveland (21-4) at Denver (17-8) 10:30 p.m. EST

DENVER (Ticker) -- The Denver Nuggets have been red hot since acquiring Chauncey Billups. Their surge, however, is nothing compared to the Cleveland Cavaliers' scorching run of success.

The Nuggets look to bounce back from a rare loss when they host LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Friday.

Since trading Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons on November 3 for a package of players that included Billups, Denver has posted a 16-5 record, catapulting to third place in the Western Conference.

Billups failed to reach double figures on Wednesday for only the second time since joining the Nuggets, scoring eight points on 3-of-10 shooting as the team had its four-game winning streak snapped with a 108-96 loss to the Houston Rockets.

Cleveland had an 11-game surge stopped during a five-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, but rebounded with a 93-70 rout over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday.

James, the NBA's second leading scorer, poured in 32 points and grabbed six rebounds against the Timberwolves, helping the Cavaliers improve to 20-2 since dropping two of their first three games to start the season.