Anthony rallies Nuggets to win

The Suns and the Celtics kept rolling.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS — Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and 10 rebounds to rally the Denver Nuggets to a 113-106 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Allen Iverson added 27 points and 10 assists, and Linas Kleiza scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter for the Nuggets (4-3), who trailed by 25 in the first half.

Troy Murphy finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy scored 17 and Jermaine O’Neal added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Indiana (3-3), which has lost its last seven games against the Nuggets.

Denver chipped away at the deficit in the second half, getting within 93-92 following Marcus Camby’s jumper with 8:23 left in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets took their first lead, 95-94, since early in the first quarter on Iverson’s 3-pointer.

Indiana regained a 101-97 advantage after O’Neal’s dunk and free throw with less than 4 minutes left, but the Nuggets reeled off the next 12 points, capped by Iverson’s 3, to secure the win.

The Pacers raced out to a 21-12 lead in the first quarter following Dunleavy’s layup. They extended the advantage to 46-31 on Murphy’s two free throws to end the period.

Suns 106, Magic 96

ORLANDO, Fla. — Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points as the Phoenix Suns withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard.

Grant Hill had 14 points and eight rebounds in his Orlando return, but couldn’t quiet a hostile crowd soured on him since he signed with Phoenix. Hill was booed all night, an unusual experience for the popular All-Star who spent seven years in Orlando but missed two-thirds of the games with several ankle injuries.

Hill came out decidedly on top as the Suns blitzed Orlando with 22 fast-break points and 12-of-29 3-point shooting, ending the Magic’s four-game winning streak.

Celtics 112, Nets 101.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Boston Celtics won one for Doc Rivers and sent the New Jersey Nets a message in the process.

Hours after attending the funeral of his father in Illinois, Rivers saw the new-look Celtics remain the NBA’s only undefeated team and personally show the Nets they are the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with an impressive win.

The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-88 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals.

Boston’s new big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen put on another impressive performance against the Nets (4-2). The Celtics also showed they could play defense, holding New Jersey without a field goal for more than eight minutes in the decisive third quarter.

Pierce, who was scoreless in the first quarter, had 13 of his 28 in the third period when Boston turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 21-point margin. Allen added 27 points and Garnett had 18 points and 14 rebounds.