Iverson, Anthony lead Nuggets over Spurs 95-89

Allen Iverson looked a lot like, well, Allen Iverson on Sunday night as the Denver Nuggets took a one-game lead in the Western Conference NBA playoff by defeating the San Antonio Spurs on their home hardwood 95-89.

Iverson scored 31 points and Carmelo Anthony checked in with 30 points. Center/forward Hilario Nene added 13 points and 12 rebounds and center Marcus Camby grabbed 10 boards for sixth-seeded Denver, which entered the playoffs having won 10 of 11. The big guys also made things difficult for Tim Duncan, who scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds for the Spurs.

The Nuggets also beat the Spurs in the first game of the 2005 playoffs.

"The guys who were here two years ago know we were in the same situation last time," Camby said. "They ran off and won four straight. That's why no one is really happy. We came out to get Game 1 but we also want to get Game 2."

"Two years ago we probably were just happy to be in the playoffs," Anthony said. "Now we ain't just happy to be in the playoffs. We know we're a good team and when we play good we can play with the best of them."

Tony Parker led third-seeded San Antonio with 19 points, followed by Michael Finley with 15 and Robert Horry with 14.

"They stopped us, doing the things we wanted to do and we couldn't stop their two stars," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's really the bottom line. Their defense outplayed us."

"It was important to come out and play defense," Iverson said. "We understand that we can score points, we've been saying that all year long. We can score points, that's not our problem. We've got to be able to stop people. When we needed the stops, we got it."

The Spurs won the season series with Denver, 2-1, but that was hardly a good indication 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.