Nuggets prevail without Anthony

The Denver Nuggets didn’t need Carmelo Anthony early, but could’ve used him late.

With their leading scorer starting a 15-game suspension for his role in a weekend brawl, the Nuggets nearly blew a huge lead but held on to beat the Washington Wizards, 117-108, victory over the Wizards on Monday night at Denver.

Earl Boykins had a season-high 29 points -- including 15 in the fourth quarter -- and Marcus Camby grabbed 17 rebounds and scored a season-high 25 points.

Denver took a 25-point lead late in the second quarter. But Washington cut it to 93-91 midway through the fourth quarter. The Nuggets then went on a 9-0 run to put the game away.

“We should look at it as a 15-game playoff series,” said Coach George Karl of the Nuggets’ approach to life without Anthony who was joined by second-leading scorer J.R. Smith (10 games) and Nene (one game) on the suspended list. “If we win the playoff series, I think we’ll win the fight.”

Linas Kleiza (10 points) and Yakhouba Diawara (eight) replaced Anthony and Smith.

Gilbert Arenas, who scored a franchise-record 60 points against the Lakers on Sunday night, finished with 23 points for the Wizards. He made 10 of 30 field-goal attempts and did not attempt a single free throw after making 21 of 27 against the Lakers.