Carmelo Anthony overcame a bad first half (1-for-7 from the floor) to finish with 25 points as the Nuggets won for the 13th time in their last 15 games at the Pepsi Center, which was rocking like it hadn't since Denver faced San Antonio in the playoffs last season.
In overcoming an eight-point halftime deficit with a dominating second half, the Nuggets swept the Spurs at home for the first time since 1988-89.
On Jan. 3, they beat the Spurs 80-77. This one was more of Denver's preferred style, with lots of running and gunning
- and everybody got into the act.
Eduardo Najera scored 19 points and fellow reserve J.R. Smith added 15 to spark Denver's second-half surge. Smith's 3-pointer from the top of the key after Najera tipped a rebound to him made it 96-81 with six minutes left.
Despite a 37-24 record, the Nuggets are still on the fringe of the wild Western Conference playoff picture. They remained one game behind Golden State for the eighth spot heading into the final six weeks.
After missing four straight free throws, the Nuggets closed the third quarter on a 21-7 run capped by Najera's 3-pointer from the top of the circle that gave Denver an 80-73 lead.
The Nuggets stretched their lead to 86-73 and mostly maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Manu Ginobili led San Antonio with 24 points and Tim Duncan scored 23 for the Spurs, who fell to 9-4 in the second game of back-to-backs despite arriving in the Mile High City well-rested.
None of them played more than 28 minutes in coasting to a win over Indiana in San Antonio on Thursday night, and coach Gregg Popovich also had a chance to rest his vocal cords
- he was ejected in the second quarter for arguing a no-call against Pacers forward Mike Dunleavy.
