Anthony tied the NBA mark of 33 points set by San Antonio's George Gervin in the second quarter against New Orleans on April 9, 1978. Anthony broke the franchise record of 32 set by David Thompson against Detroit, also on April 9, 1978."That was one of the greatest quarters I've ever been apart of," Anthony said. "The most important thing is we won the game tonight."
Chauncey Billups added 22 points in Denver's eighth straight win over Minnesota.
Al Jefferson had 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Randy Foye also scored 26 points for Minnesota, which has lost seven straight games and two in a row since Kevin McHale took over as head coach on Monday.
Anthony, who had nine points at halftime, took over the game in the third quarter, scoring 24 straight points for the Nuggets at one point. His steal and dunk sparked the Nuggets' rally from a 12-point halftime deficit, and he pumped his fist after hitting a 3-pointer that tied it at 60.
Anthony, who also had a team-high 11 rebounds, wasn't done. His putback layup gave Denver its first lead since midway through the first quarter, and he followed that with a 3-pointer and a fast-break dunk to make it 68-62 with 4:35 left in the third.
He hit two 3-pointers to extend Denver's lead to 82-76, and he finished the quarter with a driving layup with 1.8 seconds left to give the Nuggets an 84-78 lead.
Minnesota didn't go away quietly. Foye and Jefferson made back-to-back baskets to cut Denver's lead to 94-92 with 6:47 left, but J.R. Smith's three-point play and a layup by Anthony made it 101-92. Billups and Anthony Carter hit consecutive 3-pointers to push the lead to 10 with 3:38 left. Minnesota got no closer then eight the rest of the way.
Anthony scored only three points in the fourth quarter but left to a standing ovation with 52.7 seconds left in the game and Denver ahead by 11.
Notes: Denver's Kenyon Martin missed his second straight game and third overall because of a sprained left wrist. Renaldo Balkman started in his place. ... Denver's eight-game winning streak against Minnesota is its longest current streak against any NBA team. ... The Nuggets assigned G Sonny Weems and C Cheikh Samb to the Colorado 14ers of the NBDL.
