http://www.nba.com/games/20040118/MIADEN/recap.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">DENVER, Jan 18 (Ticker) -- Once again, rookie Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets avoided losing a third straight game. Anthony scored 31 points on 12-of-17 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds as the Nuggets posted an 88-80, wire-to-wire victory over the Miami Heat. Voshon Lenard had 18 points, Nene chipped in 17 and Rodney White scored all of his 10 in the fourth quarter for the Nuggets, who have lost back-to-back games six times this season but have yet to drop three in a row. "We want to see how long we can keep it going," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "It is a huge thing." "Coach stressed the fact we hadn't lost three in a row before the game," Anthony said. "Two teams in the NBA haven't done that, (league-leading) Sacramento and us, so we wanted to keep that intact. Tonight we came out with some spark under us and played like that from start to finish." The rookie made quite an impression on the Heat. "We could not guard Carmelo Anthony," Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. "His poise is what impresses me. He never looks rattled. He was very efficient today, really under control." "He is a good player," said Heat center Brian Grant, who had six points and seven rebounds. "He had a big game tonight. He goes hard to the basket and he is getting better." The Nuggets held a 17-point third-quarter lead and an 82-68 advantage with 5 1/2 minutes remaining but allowed the Heat to climb within six points on three occasions down the stretch, including 86-80 after a layup by rookie Udonis Haslem with 1:36 to play. But Nene blocked Haslem from behind with 55 seconds to play and Lenard made a spinning bank shot with 30 seconds left to seal the victory. "We just want to stay aggressive," said Nuggets guard Andre Miller, who had eight points and 10 assists. "We had a couple of lapses down the stretch but some guys came in and hit some big shots." Lamar Odom collected 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Heat, who went 1-5 on a six-game road trip. The Nuggets jumped out to a 10-2 lead and took a 24-12 advantage into the second quarter. "I think getting off to the good start helped us," Miller said. "We lost two in a row and hadn't been playing too well at home. We wanted to start off the second part of the season by jumping on them and staying aggressive." </div>
