Iverson and Anthony combine for 61 points to lead Nuggets over Spurs 95-89

The Spurs won the season series with Denver, 2-1, but that was hardly a good gauge of how this series would go. The Nuggets were without Anthony in the first matchup and Iverson had just returned from an injury for the second. Their third meeting was the last regular season game and Denver won a meaningless 100-77 rout.

With their stars now aligned, the Nuggets got the road victory they'll need to pull off the upset and win their first playoff series since 1994 - when they beat Seattle in a best-of-five to become the first No. 8 seed to knock out a No. 1.

Nene's dunk off a pass from the driving Iverson made it 80-77. Anthony's three and a basket by Iverson were followed by another Iverson-to-Nene combination to close an 11-0 Denver run and give the Nuggets a 10-point lead - their biggest of the game - with 3:27 left.

After Denver failed to get the ball over the half court line in time with under a minute to play, Parker hit a layup for the Spurs to bring them within 91-87 with 43.9 left.

Iverson missed his next shot, and Parker's under the basket pass to Duncan for a dunk made it 91-89 Nuggets with 17.9 to go.

But Anthony and Nene hit two free throws a piece after each was fouled by Duncan to extend the lead to 95-89 with 11.6 seconds left and seal the game for the Nuggets.

The Nuggets had the lead for most of the first half as Duncan, Parker and Ginobili struggled from the field. They combined for 15 points and shot 7-of-33 from the field in the first half, one fewer than Anthony scored for Denver as he went 7-of-9. Iverson missed his first six shots, then hit four straight.

It was Finley who kept the Spurs within striking distance of Denver. He hit two of the Spurs' first-half three pointers.

Anthony's fast-break dunk off a long pass from Camby with 4.9 seconds on the clock gave Denver a 44-42 lead heading into the third quarter.

Iverson's 11 points in the third, including a three with 2:39 left in the quarter, gave the Nuggets a slight edge going into the fourth.