Balancing in the 3-foot space between the sideline and the three-point line, Carmelo Anthony literally was backed into a corner.

A potential escape route would take him toward the basket, where he might be able to draw a foul or get an easier shot in the 2.7 seconds before the final buzzer.

That plan changed with one glance at the defender standing in front of him, Desmond Mason.

"Desmond stood there and looked at me," Anthony said. "I had a chance to look at his feet and I just shot it."

Anthony's three-pointer from the left corner was as accurate as it was quick, nestling into the hoop with one-tenth of a second remaining to give the Nuggets a topsy-turvy 122-120 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.

The Nuggets overcame a 14-point, third-quarter deficit and squandered a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds before Anthony came to the rescue with the ninth game-winning shot of his career.

"Melo, in his six years in the league, has proven he makes big shots," teammate Chauncey Billups said. "Not a lot of people are willing to take those shots, and he makes them. He's clutch. I'm pretty good in those situations, too."

Billups, known as Mr. Big Shot, certainly was an option for the Nuggets after Kevin Durant hit a 25-foot, catch-and- shoot three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining to give Oklahoma City a 120-119 lead.

"The first thing I did was look up and see how much time was on the clock," Billups said. "Two-point-seven seconds is a lot of time. My whole thing was, 'Draw us up something good, let's get out of here with this win.' "

With the Ford Center rocking and the near-sellout crowd anticipating the Thunder's fifth win this season, Nuggets coach George Karl drew up a play for Billups near the top of the key or Anthony in the corner.

Seeing Billups covered, Ken- yon Martin passed the ball to Anthony in the corner and ran toward the paint.

"I didn't even see (the shot go up). I ran to the basket to try to rebound," Martin said. "I ain't never going to sit there and just watch the flight of the ball. I'm going to try to get an offensive rebound . . . but it didn't come down to that."

Out of timeouts, the Thunder was unable to throw one final counterpunch, ending an entertaining game that featured three ties and five lead changes in the final minutes of the game.

"That was a heck of a game," said Oklahoma City interim coach Scott Brooks, a Nuggets assistant during Anthony's first three NBA seasons.

"Really, nobody deserved to lose. It should've gone into overtime after overtime."

Between Anthony's ailing shooting elbow, Nene's stinging neck and Karl's rising blood pressure, the Nuggets might not have survived overtime.

Fresh off his 900th career victory, Karl still was shaking his head after No. 901.

"How we won the game . . . I'll fall asleep before I know," he said. "I'm afraid the sheriff might pick us up for stealing."

Things certainly looked bad after an 11-point first-quarter lead turned into an 11-point halftime deficit that reached 14 in the first two minutes of the third quarter.

Billups helped bring the Nuggets back with 19 of his 24 points in the second half, and Nene came up big with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

"At halftime, everybody was very disappointed," Billups said. "I know, personally, I wanted to be more aggressive, make them defend me as opposed to trying to make plays all the time. The game just turned around."

Billups' poise, Nene's presence and Anthony's buzzer beater proved to be just enough to beat Oklahoma City and give the Nuggets (22-12) three wins on a four-game trip.

"They was going to hurt our feelings," Anthony said of Durant and the last-place Thunder. "Three and one, we always take that, especially on the road."

The Nuggets, still atop the Northwest Division, return home for seven straight home games, starting tonight against the New Orleans Hornets.

They will play 11 of their next 14 at the Pepsi Center.

"It's strange (being home for so long), but we'll take it," Martin said. "We have to build a confidence and swagger at home. I think guys are looking forward to going to sleeping in their own bed."

Despite being the last player out of the Nuggets locker room, Anthony didn't need to turn out the lights. He took care of that about 30 minutes earlier.

Melo magic

With the game winner Friday night at Oklahoma City, Carmelo Anthony has nine career game-winning baskets in the final 7 seconds to his credit. It also marked only the second game-winning three-pointer for Anthony in his career - the other was Feb. 24, 2006, at Minnesota. Seven of his nine game winners have come on the road.

Date	Opponent	Time left	Score
Jan 2, 2009	at Oklahoma City	0.1 seconds	122-120
April 6, 2006	Los Angeles Lakers	3.8 seconds	110-108*
March 15, 2006	at Indiana	2.2 seconds	101-99
Feb. 24, 2006	at Minnesota	3.4 seconds	102-101
Jan. 10, 2006	Phoenix	2.9 seconds	139-137**
Jan. 8, 2006	at Houston	1.0 seconds	92-90
Feb. 15, 2005	at Atlanta	0.9 seconds	100-96
Dec. 15, 2004	at Boston	3.6 seconds	100-99
Dec. 17, 2003	at Seattle	6.0 seconds	99-98

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