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 Iverson scored 33 points and Smith sparked the Nuggets out of their early doldrums with a 23-point performance in Denver's 111-94 rout of the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
All the Nuggets have to do now to reach the playoffs for the fifth straight time is beat lowly Memphis on Wednesday night at home. Denver (49-32) moved a half-game ahead of Golden State for the eighth and final playoff spot with their rout of the Rockets.
The Warriors need to win at Phoenix on Monday night and beat Seattle on Wednesday to have a chance. But even that won't matter if the Nuggets handle their business against the lottery-bound Grizzlies, who will be playing the second game of a back-to-back against a Denver team that will have had two days off.
This was a surprisingly easy win for the Nuggets, who pulled away with a 10-0 run sparked by consecutive 3-pointers from Smith spanning the first and second quarters.
The Rockets entered the Pepsi Center riding a five-game winning streak and still very much alive for the top seed in the wild, wild West.
Instead, the Rockets fell 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers atop the crazy conference, where Golden State could become the first team in NBA history to win 50 games and miss the playoffs.
Luther Head lead Houston with 19 points and Tracy McGrady scored 16, but he was in foul trouble from the closing minutes of the first half, and even by then the game was out of hand.
Steve Novak added 15 points, all on 3s, for Houston. Reserve Linas Kleiza chipped in 18 points for Denver, and Marcus Camby grabbed 14 rebounds, all but one of them off the defensive glass.
The Nuggets stretched their lead to 88-67 heading into the fourth quarter, and Smith drew his biggest ovation with a steal and rim-rattling slam that made it 90-70.
Both teams got off to a slow start, with the Nuggets shooting 3-for-12 from the floor and the Rockets going just 2-for-14.
As has been his habit over the second half of the season, Smith came off the bench to spark the Nuggets, who had a double-digit lead most of the night.
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Midway through the second quarter, Kenyon Martin stuffed McGrady and was whistled for the foul even though he got all ball. An incredulous Martin bit his lip
-- and his jersey -- and walked all the way back to his own foul line in disbelief.
The Nuggets have shown a tendency to let such events knock them off rhythm this season, but they shrugged it off this time and built their lead to 61-44 at halftime.
Rockets defensive specialist Shane Battier, whose streak of 221 consecutive games ended against Phoenix on Friday, missed his second straight game with a bruised left foot and ankle. But a rotation of defenders stymied Carmelo Anthony nonetheless.
Anthony made just 3-of-14 shots and finished with 11 points.
Notes: Houston G Bobby Jackson (left knee) also sat out. ... Nuggets coach George Karl on the possibility this was Dikembe Mutombo's last visit to Denver, where he began his career: "I don't want to touch his legacy. He has me in it too much. He beat me in two major playoff situations, a conference final in Philly when I was in Milwaukee and the 63-win season" in Seattle in 1994, when the top-seeded Sonics were upset by Denver in the first round. ... The loudest ovation of the night went to Denver assistant coach Adrian Dantley, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2008.
[Associated Press; By ARNIE STAPLETON]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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