Nuggets’ 113-83 rout frustrates James

CLEVELAND -- Carmelo Anthony kept his edge over a frustrated LeBron James.

Anthony scored 27 points, Allen Iverson had 25 and the Denver Nuggets rolled to a 113-83 victory Sunday night over the injury-depleted Cleveland Cavaliers.

Anthony, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, improved to 8-2 in his pro career against good friend James, who scored 30 points -- in three quarters -- but got little help from a Cleveland team missing four key players, including two starters.

“I know he hates losing to me,” Anthony said with a laugh.

Though short-handed, the Cavaliers have gotten by with good defense and came in 16-5 since Dec. 25. But they didn’t do nearly enough to slow the Nuggets, who handed Cleveland its worst home loss since April 5, 2005.

Denver led by 11 points after one quarter and 18 at halftime, and pushed its advantage to 26 by the end of the third. At the end of that period, James stormed off the court, took a seat at the far end of Cleveland’s bench and didn’t take part in Coach Mike Brown’s huddle before the fourth quarter began.

“It was definitely frustrating,” James said. “We know we can play better. It was one game. That’s something we can fix.”

James didn’t play in the fourth quarter when Cleveland fell behind by 37 points.

The Cavaliers, already without reserves Anderson Varejao (ankle) and Sasha Pavlovic (foot), also didn’t have starters Drew Gooden (groin) and Daniel Gibson (hamstring).