Denver drains Seattle

SEATTLE – Carmelo Anthony scored six straight points midway through the fourth quarter, Allen Iverson took over in the closing moments, and the Denver Nuggets snapped a three-game losing streak with a 114-103 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Sunday night.

Having seen double-digit leads evaporate all night, the Nuggets finally put away the scrappy Sonics and picked up a crucial win in their quest to secure a Western Conference playoff spot.

Anthony finished with 32 points – his 29th game with 30 or more points. Anthony scored 17 in the first half, then relented to Iverson for much of the second half.

Iverson finished with 26 points – 21 after halftime –and capped the victory with a driving three-point play in traffic and a pair of tough jumpers on consecutive possessions with less than two minutes remaining.

Earl Watson led Seattle with a career-high 28 points, but the Sonics had their three-game win streak snapped. Rashard Lewis added 27 and Chris Wilcox scored 20.

Nuggets coach George Karl, who also used to coach the Seattle SuperSonics, will be in Boise today when his son, Coby, has surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes.

The surgery will be the second in 13 months for Coby Karl, who had his thyroid removed after being diagnosed with papillary carcinoma, a form of treatable cancer. He also underwent chemotherapy to try to kill off any remaining cancer cells shortly after his surgery.

Coby Karl, a senior on the Boise State basketball team, led the Broncos with 14.8 points per game this season.