Anthony Has Career Night

One day after fellow rookie LeBron James scored a career-high 38 points, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony did him one better.

Anthony scored a career-high 39 points on 14-for-22 shooting, and the Nuggets ended the Portland Trail Blazers’ four-game winning streak, 116-97, Monday night at Denver.

Anthony’s previous high was 37 points against Houston on Dec. 26 and he insists he wasn’t motivated by James’ performance.

“There ain’t no competition between us in scoring,” Anthony said. “We won the game. That’s all that matters.

“My jumper was falling early, and I took advantage of what the defense gave me. They didn’t double-team me as much as I expected, and that opened things up for me. Once I had 24 in the first half, I felt I had to go for 40. I missed a couple of free throws or I would have had 40.”

The Nuggets pulled away in the second half with runs of 15-6 and 17-5. Portland, hurt by 24 turnovers, was led by Zach Randolph’s 28 points.

Detroit 102, Miami 100 -- Richard Hamilton sank a tie-breaking 14-footer with 14 seconds left in overtime at Miami to help the Pistons earn their fourth consecutive down-to-the-wire victory. The Pistons have won four games in a row by a total of eight points, including two overtime victories.

Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 24 points for Detroit. Eddie Jones had 19 points for Miami.

New Jersey 91, New Orleans 70 -- Jason Kidd had 14 points and 12 assists at New Orleans to lead the Nets to their fifth straight victory. New Jersey also improved to 4-0 under Coach Lawrence Frank.

Jamaal Magloire had 22 points and 13 rebounds for New Orleans, which played without Baron Davis (sore ankle).

Memphis 106, Golden State 101 -- Pau Gasol and Lorenzen Wright scored 18 points each as the Grizzlies used a 7-0 fourth-quarter run to win at Memphis, Tenn.

The win ended Memphis’ three-game losing streak and prevented the Warriors from tying their season high of four straight victories. Jason Richardson had 19 points for Golden State.

Phoenix 99, Houston 79 -- Shawn Marion scored 14 of his 31 points in the third period and Joe Johnson added 27 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds at Phoenix to help the Suns end a three-game losing streak.

Yao Ming and Cuttino Mobley had 16 points apiece for the Rockets, who lost for the fourth straight game.

San Antonio 83, Utah 65 -- Tim Duncan had 31 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots at Salt Lake City to help the Spurs beat the Jazz for the 16th straight time.

Seattle 109, Chicago 97 -- Ray Allen scored 11 of his 27 points in the third quarter at Seattle and the SuperSonics opened the second half with a 12-2 run to end a three-game losing streak.

Jamal Crawford, who grew up in Seattle, had 31 points for the Bulls, who were tied with the SuperSonics at halftime but ended up losing for the fifth straight time.