Money Matters, Simplified.
NBA: Denver 99, Cleveland 97
Sat, 01/09/2010 - 11:54 by shalini.bahadur
Denver withstood a 35-point effort by LeBron James, who made two of three shots from long range during the final dozen seconds.
Denver had a five-point cushion heading into the final 12 seconds, during which James made a 3-pointer, Smith made his two foul shots, James missed a 3-pointer, Nene missed two free throws for Denver, James hit another 3-pointer and Chauncey Billups hit 1-of-2 foul shots for the Nuggets.
Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas grabbed the rebound of the missed Billups free throw but the Cavaliers did not have enough time remaining to get off a shot.
Billups led Denver with 23 points and was one of five Denver players in double figures. It was only the second appearance in the last 10 games for Billups, who has been trying to recover from a groin strain.
Carmelo Anthony missed his fourth straight game with a knee injury.
Cleveland, which had won its previous five road games, opened a five-game trip.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International.