Despite a sharp pain when he whips his neck from side to side, Nuggets forward Nene returned Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors after a one-game absence.

"I've got no choice," he said after the morning shootaround. "I've got to go. . . . We have no big men. Just Chris (Andersen) and Kenyon (Martin), so I need to help these guys."

He led the Nuggets with 21 points in 39 minutes.

"I was worried about the minutes," coach George Karl said. "I probably ran him out of gas a little bit but he has the day off (today)."

NUMBERS GAME

53wins for the Nuggets in 2008. Denver played 85 regular-season games during the calendar year, finishing with a 53-32 record.

HUNTER IMPROVING

Optimism has turned to certainty for injured big man Steven Hunter.

Hunter said his recovery from knee surgery is ahead of schedule and he hopes to start doing work on the court by the end of January. After surgery Nov. 14, Hunter thought he might be out for the entire season.

"I don't want to rush back, but I'm progressing," he said. "Before, I was really afraid it might be difficult for me to play again (this season), but now I'm certain that I will."

Hunter said if all goes well, he could return in February.

BUMMER FOR BILLUPS

As a devoted Broncos fan, Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups couldn't help but shake his head after learning the Broncos had fired coach Mike Shanahan.

"I was, of course, disappointed. He's a legend in my book," Billups said. "It's always tough to see somebody like that go. He'll probably end up helping somebody else now."

HE SAID IT

"He's been a great coach in this league for a long time. Nine hundred - it's a number that I'm 896 away from."

Jay Triano, Toronto interim coach, on Nuggets coach George Karl, who earned his 900th win.