Raptors  112    Nuggets  130

Recap: Denver vs. Toronto

Sports Network | November 18, 2009

Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Carmelo Anthony continued his strong start to the season, making 12-of-15 shots, on the way to a 32-point night as the Denver Nuggets ran past Toronto, 130-112, at the Pepsi Center.

J.R. Smith finished with 29 points, going 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, as the Nuggets followed up a 105-79 rout of the Lakers Friday by moving to 4-0 at home. They've beaten the Raptors in 10 of the last 11 encounters, including five in a row.

"We can't complain about anything right now," said Anthony. "We can only take the negative things and turn them into positives. So far, so good, but we have a long way to go."

Nene contributed 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Nuggets, while Kenyon Martin scored 15 as Denver shot a sizzling 61.5 percent (48-of-78) from the field.

DeMar DeRozan led the way with 17 points for Toronto, which lost its second in a row. Jose Calderon finished with 16 points and seven assists, while Marco Belinelli also scored 16 in the loss.

Chris Bosh, who ended with 13 points and 14 rebounds, hit 1-of-2 free throws to pull the visitors even at 74 with nearly eight minutes left in the third quarter. The Nuggets then embarked on a 7-0 run and they were in front the rest of the game.

"We talked about trying to control tempo and we turned the ball over 10 times in the second half," said Raptors coach Jay Triano. "That's what fuels their tempo and gets them up and down. We had no answer for them."

Denver's lead swelled to 97-89 going into the fourth quarter and the Nuggets began the final period with nine straight points. The margin reached 22 down the stretch.

Toronto started strong with a 20-9 lead, but its advantage was only 29-28 after one quarter. The game was tied at 64 at the half.

Smith said the Nuggets got a stern talking to from coach George Karl at halftime.

"Coach came in here and really let us have it," said Smith. "We were taking quick shots and that led to an easy offense for them. He let us know what was going to go on in the second half. We just produced."

Arron Afflalo had 13 points for Denver, while Andrea Bargnani and Sonny Weems each scored 12 for Toronto...Chauncey Billups had 10 assists for the Nuggets...Anthony has scored at least 20 points in every game this season...The Raptors were awarded forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu on a waiver claim after he was let go by the Houston Rockets on Friday...Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu missed the game with a sore left hip.