Box score

Tracy McGrady looked bound for 40. As it turned out, a 40- year-old stole the show.

Center Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 22 rebounds to lead Houston to a 108-97 win against the Nuggets on Friday night at the Pepsi Center. He became the first 40-year-old in NBA history to pull down 20 or more boards.

McGrady led the Rockets with 28 points, but he slowed considerably after he scored 21 in the first 1 1/2 quarters, then had to go to the bench with his third foul.

Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Nuggets (28-29) with 30 points but shot only 11-for-28. Guard Allen Iverson added 19 points.

Afterward, Nuggets coach George Karl expressed concern with how Anthony and Iverson are meshing.

"Melo and A.I. have to stop playing against the teeth of the defense," Karl said. "Trusting each other a little more. Trusting ball movement, weakside basketball.

"I think we had 26 or 25 what we call challenged jump shots, and we made five. Maybe six. You can't win against good teams trying to make jump shots when they're challenged."

Karl later said he didn't want to single out anyone. But Denver is only 4-8 when Anthony and Iverson play together, with no over against winning teams.

"It's balancing out the offense in a team-like way," Karl said. "Anything that makes us play better as a team and pass the ball. . . . If we want to be a good team, learn how to play basketball together at the offensive end.'

The Nuggets also were outrebounded 51-40. Mutombo dominated center Marcus Camby, who had one point and five rebounds, although he did tie his season high with seven blocked shots.

"I had one rebound and I felt I let myself down," Mutombo said of Wednesday against Toronto. "I found myself in a room wondering what went wrong with me. I tried to do extra (Friday) to play a good game, and I thought I did."

Iverson marveled at the big guy's showing. He said Mutombo has "many more years to go."

After being down 60-55 at the half, the Nuggets fell behind 87- 69 at the end of the third quarter. They got to 11 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining but never could get closer.

The Nuggets are only 1-12 against the top six teams in West. Their only win was Jan. 20 at Houston (36-22).

"It's definitely a concern,' Iverson said. "We've just got to figure out a way to get better."

Iverson was holding his left elbow in the fourth quarter. Afterward, Iverson, who has had problems with an inflamed bursa sac, said he was in pain after taking a spill and the elbow swelled.

After the game, Anthony did not make his customary appearance on the podium to talk to the media.

The game was televised nationally by ESPN and started at 8:30 p.m., but the Nuggets were late to the starting line, falling behind by 13 in the first quarter.

"I thought they had more energy than we did in a big game," Karl said. "And the No. 1 priority of the game was to defend the three-point line. And we didn't do that."

The Rockets shot 14-for-30 from three-point range. The Nuggets were 5-for-15, with Anthony going 1-for-6.

McGrady needed 12 minutes for his 21 first-half points. He picked up his third foul with 5:57 left in the half and left, not returning until the final minute.

In the third quarter, though, Houston took over. After the Rockets led 67-61, they went on a 16-4 run to take an 83-65 lead.

"It's a work in progress," Nuggets guard Steve Blake said. "Still trying to jell, still trying to figure it out, figure out what's going to win games for us. Hopefully, we find it sooner than later."

ETC.: For the third time in four games, Karl did not play forward Reggie Evans. He says Nene playing big minutes is a factor. . . . The Nuggets are 0-19 when they don't score 100. . . . The Nuggets had a season-low two steals and Houston turned 18 Denver turnovers into 30 points.

		FG	FT	Reb
HOUSTON	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Battier	34:23	5-7	0-0	1-3	0	3	15
Howard	33:41	9-19	0-1	3-6	7	0	18
Mutombo	33:25	1-5	3-4	8-22	1	3	5
McGrady	32:21	11-30	4-4	2-6	7	3	28
Alston	27:41	5-14	0-0	1-3	6	3	12
Head	32:05	6-13	0-0	0-2	2	1	17
Snyder	18:01	2-4	1-4	0-2	1	3	5
Tsakalidis	14:04	0-2	4-4	3-5	0	2	4
Hayes	14:19	2-4	0-0	0-2	0	0	4
Totals	240	41-98	12-17	18-51	24	18	108

Percentages - FG .418, FT .706. Three-point goals - 14-30, .467 (Battier 5-6, Head 5-9, McGrady 2-6, Alston 2-8, Snyder 0-1).

Team rebounds - 9. Team turnovers - 13 (9 pts.). Blocked shots - 2 (Mutombo, Snyder). Turnovers - 12 (Howard 3, McGrady 3, Snyder 2, Alston, Hayes, Battier, Tsakalidis). Steals - 9 (Head 2, Howard 2, McGrady 2, Battier 2, Snyder). Technicals - Defensive three second, 8:24 first; defensive three second, 8.1 first.

		FG	FT	Reb
DENVER	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	Pts
Anthony	39:02	11-28	7-8	1-7	1	4	30
Nene	34:45	6-9	1-1	0-8	3	4	13
Camby	34:07	0-2	1-2	1-5	4	1	1
Diawara	17:29	0-2	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Iverson	39:12	7-19	5-8	0-4	5	0	19
Najera	24:23	5-6	0-0	2-4	3	5	10
Blake	30:48	6-8	0-0	1-6	6	1	14
Kleiza	19:41	2-4	4-4	0-5	1	3	10
Sampson	0:33	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals	240	37-78	18-23	5-40	23	19	97

Percentages - FG .474, FT .783. Three-point goals - 5-15, .333 (Blake 2-3, Kleiza 2-4, Anthony 1-6, Diawara 0-1, Iverson 0-1). Team rebounds - 8. Team turnovers - 18 (30 pts.). Blocked shots - 10 (Camby 7, Anthony 2, Najera). Turnovers - 18 (Anthony 5, Blake 4, Iverson 3, Camby 2, Najera 2, Diawara, Nene). Steals - 2 (Anthony, Camby). Technicals - Anthony, 30.7 second.

Houston ......35	25	27	21	-	108
Denver ......26	29	14	28	-	97

A - 18,938 (19,099). T - 2:13. Officials - Bennett Salvatore, Leon Wood, Tommy Nunez Jr.

SCORING RACE

Player, team Fri. G Pts. Avg.

Anthony, Denver 30 42 1,277 30.4

Bryant, LAL 30 55 1,594 29.0

Arenas, Wash. 19 57 1,620 28.7

Wade, Miami DNP 46 1,324 28.8

Iverson, Denver 19 41 1,150 28.0

tomassonc@RockyMountainNews.com Rockets 108, Nuggets 97

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