According to the NBA standings, the Nuggets have not missed forward Carmelo Anthony much during the past 25 days.

Even so, they gladly will welcome him back to the lineup Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats.

"I'm so excited to have him back. We need him desperately right now," guard Chauncey Billups said Thursday. "We did a pretty good job holding down the ship while he was gone. We miss him, bad, bad right now. Just his presence on the court, what he can do, the way he's stepped up and been a leader this year for us, we missed that. I'm happy that he's healthy and he can come back now."

When Anthony broke a bone in his right hand Jan. 5, the Nuggets had a 2 1/2-game lead on the Portland Trail Blazers and a 3 1/2-game lead on the Utah Jazz in the Northwest Division.

More than three weeks later, the Nuggets have a 1 1/2-game edge on Portland and they've expanded their advantage over Utah to five games.

Denver went 6-4 without Anthony, who is set to return to the starting lineup after receiving medical clearance Thursday.

"It was the best news I could have received," Anthony said. "The doctor didn't know how well my hand was going to heal. He said he was even surprised how well it healed. I healed faster than I thought, faster than he thought."

Anthony, averaging a team-leading 21.1 points, said the fracture still needs another "couple weeks" to fully heal, but he reported no major discomfort while doing shooting and ball-handling drills during the past week.

He will wear athletic tape on his two middle fingers and hope for the best when defenders try to slap at the ball during the game.

"I'm not really worrying about that," he said. "There's nothing I can do to prevent it, except sit out."