Carmelo Anthony's 3-pointer with one second left Saturday boosted Denver to a 106-105 win over Dallas and a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal. Anthony, who sank just 9-of-24 shots, had recorded a dunk to cut Denver's deficit to 105-103 with 28.5 seconds left. Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets with 32 points, three assists and three rebounds.

J.R.

Chauncey Billups scored 31 points Wednesday and Denver pulled away with a huge fourth quarter to defeat New Orleans 108-93. The Nuggets opened a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series, which moves to New Orleans for the third game Saturday. Denver owned a 10-point lead to begin the fourth quarter, then went on an 18-5 run to start the period.

Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points Wednesday and Denver rolled to its eighth straight victory -- 122-112 over Oklahoma City. Nene added 23 points and 10 rebounds, Chauncey Billups had 18 points and Linas Kleiza had 17. Denver maintained a 2 1/2-game lead at the top of the Northwest Division over Portland with three games to play.

J.R. Smith scored 34 points Saturday to help the Denver Nuggets get their sixth straight victory, a 120-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Carmelo Anthony added 18 point and Chris Andersen had 13 points and eight rebounds for Denver, which has won 11 of its last 12 games.