NBA roundup: Wade, Heat deal Nuggets their first defeat

Associated Press

Published: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 12:54 a.m. MST

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MIAMI — By the time Dwyane Wade got rolling, the Miami Heat were already in control.

That's just fine with the reigning NBA scoring champion.

Wade scored 22 points, Jermaine O'Neal added 18 and the Heat dealt the Denver Nuggets their first loss of the season, 96-88 on Friday night.

Mario Chalmers scored 16 points, Quentin Richardson added 13 and Udonis Haslem finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who are 5-1 for only the third time in their 22 seasons and beat Denver for the first time since Dec. 17, 2004.

"As I continue to keep saying, it's going to take that for us to be successful," Wade said of the balanced scoring punch. "I enjoyed it. I really did."

Denver (5-1) got 30 points from Carmelo Anthony, and little from anyone else. Take away Anthony, and the high-powered Nuggets shot only 12-for-35 through the first 36 minutes, getting outscored 14-0 over a 6-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters.

Reserve Arron Afflalo scored 18 for the Nuggets, who were held more than 27 points below their season average.

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"I'm not going to give anyone an 'A' on this one," said Nuggets coach George Karl, who remained tied with Red Auerbach for eighth on the NBA coaching wins list with 938. "We all have to be disappointed on how we showed up."

Making matters worse for Denver, Kenyon Martin got hurt again.

He left in the second quarter with what the team said was a lower left leg contusion. Karl said Martin will likely get further tests Saturday and could be out "a week or two."

"When one person goes down, that's why everybody else gets paid to play," Nuggets guard Anthony Carter said. "Kenyon ain't the whole team."

CAVALIERS 100, KNICKS 91: At New York, LeBron James scored 33 points in his only visit to Madison Square Garden this season, leading Cleveland to victory.

SUNS 110, CELTICS 103: At Boston, Jason Richardson bounced back from his worst game of the season to score 34 points with 10 rebounds, and Phoenix rebounded from its only defeat.

MAGIC 110, PISTONS 103: At Orlando, Fla., Dwight Howard had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the Magic hold off Charlie Villanueva and Detroit. Villanueva scored 22 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to get past the defending Eastern Conference champs, who led by 19 early and never trailed at all.