DENVER (AP) Denver guard Jon Barry might be sidelined until late February with an injured right shoulder.

Barry, a right-hander shooter, expects to be out about six weeks, or about 25 games, following arthroscopic surgery Tuesday.

``It's disappointing, but it's nice to find out why I've had so many inconsistencies and why I was in pain throughout the year,'' Barry said Sunday. ``I'll take my time and see what happens.''

Barry, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract with Denver, scored his 4,000th career point two days before going on the injured list Dec. 22. A magnetic resonance imaging exam revealed a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

``If it was my left shoulder, I could deal with it,'' Barry said. ``Unfortunately, I don't shoot with my left hand.''

Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said he has no immediate plans to sign an additional player while Barry is sidelined. Guard Jeff Trepagnier has replaced Barry on the roster.

Denver Nuggets guard Jon Barry, who was placed on the injured list Monday will need arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Barry is expected to miss a few weeks.

Nuggets GM Kiki Vandeweghe was surprised by the news but doesn't plan on signing anyone to replace Barry on the active roster.

"It was a little bit of a surprise,'' Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "It's a short recovery. We knew something was wrong. The doctors said he's one of the toughest guys they've seen playing with the tear.''

DENVER (AP) Nuggets rookie Carmelo Anthony could miss Friday's game against the Houston Rockets because a strained toe.

``If it's something that is still bothering him, we're going to hold him out. No question his health is much more important to me right now,'' Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said Wednesday.

Anthony has been bothered by a sprained right toe for a week and a half. He has been in pain the past two games, shooting only 9-for-32.

Marcus Camby is uncertain for Friday's game because of a lower back strain. Nene has a left thumb sprain but should be ready.

DENVER (AP) The Denver Nuggets placed guard Jon Barry on the injured list Monday with a strained neck and activated guard Jeff Trepagnier from the injured list.

Barry has appeared in all 27 games this season, averaging 6.6 points and 2.3 assists.

Trepagnier has been on the injured list all season because of a sprained left ankle.

"The Spurs have dangled (Ron) Mercer to Denver and have interest in Nuggets shooting guard Jon Barry. Though several teams are interested in Barry, the Nuggets don't seem interested in trading the 3-point shooting threat."

DENVER (AP) Denver Nuggets forward Ryan Bowen had to leave in the third quarter of Saturday night's game against Seattle after an inadvertent elbow opened a huge gash on his forehead.

Bowen was injured with about a minute left while scrambling for a rebound with Seattle's Reggie Evans. He was hit on the head by Evans' elbow and blood immediately started pouring down the side of his face.

Bowen started to get up, but the training staff had him sit back down to stem the bleeding. He was helped to the locker room after about a minute with a towel against his face.

"(Kobe)Bryant made it back from his criminal hearing in Colorado for most of the basketball game Friday night, ducking in between the first and second quarters to a standing ovation from fans that had held their breath since Kareem Rush was introduced with the Laker starters."

Bryant scored 13 points in 31 minutes and hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 101-99 victory over the visiting Denver Nuggets.

There aren't many teams playing better than the Miami Heat. In fact, there's only one.

Miami won its fourth in a row Tuesday night behind 32 points from rookie Dwyane Wade, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 97-79. It's the first four-game winning streak in nearly two years for the Heat, whose victory string is the league's second-longest behind San Antonio's seven.

``Four wins is not enough, hopefully we can take it to five,'' said Lamar Odom, who scored 19 points and grabbed all 12 of his rebounds on the defensive end.

The turnaround by the Heat has been surprising for a team that lost coach Pat Riley on the eve of the season and proceeded to drop its first seven games. Miami, which also defeated Phoenix, Memphis and Toronto during its winning streak, goes for five in a row Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

Elsewhere, Memphis topped Sacramento 105-100, Denver downed New Orleans 116-94, Phoenix edged Seattle 92-91 in overtime, Milwaukee beat Portland 106-99, Minnesota defeated Houston 92-75, Washington downed Utah 91-87, Golden State topped New York 104-86 and Chicago beat Orlando 102-88.

Wade shot 15-for-22 with nine assists, while Odom had his fourth straight double-double. Eddie Jones added 22 points.

Odom's 3-pointer with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter put the Heat ahead 65-55. The Hawks never got their deficit into single digits the rest of the way.

``The most remarkable thing about the game is that we won it in the third quarter,'' Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``We are a team that struggles to score and when a game goes well for you offensively, you tend to play poor defense. When we stepped up our defensive intensity in the third quarter, the game turned in our favor.''

Atlanta, led by Shareef Abdur-Rahim's 16 points, has lost four in a row and eight of nine.

Miami never trailed after Butler's layup late in the first quarter made it 21-19. Wade scored 19 points in the first half.

``I am getting more confident and my teammates are getting more confident in me,'' Wade said. ``The floor is opening up more because so many guys are playing well.''

Grizzlies 105, Kings 100

At Memphis, Pau Gasol scored 22 points and Shane Battier keyed a fourth-quarter rally with 11 points.

Six Memphis players scored in double figures as the Grizzlies snapped Sacramento's four-game winning streak and beat the Kings for the first time since November, 2001.

The teams were tied at 83 with just under eight minutes left before Memphis went on a 7-1 run for a 90-84 lead with 5:15 remaining. Sacramento got within 94-93 on a drive by Brad Miller with 3:15 remaining, but never any closer.

Nuggets 116, Hornets 94

At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had 21 points and Voshon Lenard added 19, improving the Nuggets' home record to 10-2.

Nene had his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Marcus Camby had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double.

Baron Davis had 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting as New Orleans matched its longest losing streak of the season _ two games.

Suns 92, SuperSonics 91, OT

At Phoenix, Shawn Marion dunked off an inbounds pass from Penny Hardaway with 5.6 seconds to go to cap a low-scoring overtime _ just five points combined.

Marion had 19 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Suns snap a six-game losing streak to win for the first time in four games under coach Mike D'Antoni.

Bucks 106, Trail Blazers 99

At Portland, Tim Thomas had 23 points and six assists and Michael Redd added 22 points for the Bucks, who shot 58.2 percent. Milwaukee took over with an 11-0 run that made it 74-63.

Timberwolves 92, Rockets 75

At Minneapolis, Sam Cassell scored 25 points and Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Latrell Sprewell added 14 points for the Timberwolves, who've won three straight and improved to 6-1 in December.

Wizards 91, Jazz 87

At Washington, Larry Hughes scored 20 of his season-high 38 points in the fourth quarter, and Etan Thomas blocked a potential game-tying layup by Andrei Kirilenko. The victory broke the Wizards' four-game losing streak.

Warriors 104, Knicks 86

At New York, Jason Richardson scored 26 points in a lopsided game that left Knicks fans booing. The Warriors snapped a two-game losing streak by running all over the Knicks, scoring 23 fast-break points and never being threatened in the second half.

Bulls 102, Magic 88

At Chicago, Kendall Gill scored 27 of his season-high 29 points in the second half when he made 12 of 13 shots. The Bulls have won two straight for the first time this season.

WASHINGTON (AP) Sam Cassell scored 25 points, Kevin Garnett had 23 points and 16 rebounds and Minnesota made 17 of its first 22 shots in a 110-91 victory Friday night over the Washington Wizards.

It was the fourth straight road victory for Minnesota, which got 21 points from Latrell Sprewell and 16 from Gary Trent. The Timberwolves have beaten Washington five straight times.

Larry Hughes led the Wizards with 16 and Christian Laettner added 14. Washington has dropped three straight and seven of eight.

Washington got within 84-81 on Laettner's basket early in the fourth quarter before the Timberwolves pulled away with a 14-2 run.

Nuggets 86, 76ers 77

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Andre Miller had 23 points and Marcus Camby had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Each of Denver's starters scored in double figures as the vastly-improved Nuggets snapped a two-game losing skid.

Kenny Thomas had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Eric Snow had 14 points and 11 assists for the Sixers, who had won three straight.

Allen Iverson, back after missing one game with a knee injury, missed 16 of 22 shots and finished with 18 points. Glenn Robinson, who had missed the last 15 games with a sprained left ankle, had six points.

The Nuggets (14-8) are off to their best start since the 1989-90 season.

Celtics 114, Raptors 111

BOSTON (AP) Paul Pierce had 33 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Celtics to their fourth straight win and snapping Toronto's five-game winning streak.

Vince Carter, who scored 35, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied it. The loss was the Raptors' first since their six-player trade with Chicago. Toronto surrendered 100 points for the first time in 23 games.

The Celtics, who didn't crack the century mark until the 15th game of the season, have now scored 100 or better in their last five games.

Pacers 103, Hawks 92

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Fred Jones took over after Al Harrington left with an injury, scoring a career-high 18 points.

Harrington had a strong first half before leaving with a bruised right cheekbone, scoring nine points on 4-of-4 shooting with three assists as the Pacers built a 52-35 lead.

The Hawks rallied in the third quarter behind Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who scored 10 of his 19 points in the quarter, but Jones had 13 points in the fourth as the Pacers were able to increase the lead with Jermaine O'Neal in foul trouble and Harrington out with the injury.

Jason Terry had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Hawks, who lost their sixth straight road game.

Heat 91, Grizzlies 88

MIAMI (AP) Lamar Odom scored a season-high 29 points and the Miami Heat held off a rally to prevent the Grizzlies from setting a franchise record for consecutive wins.

Odom also had 14 rebounds, Dwyane Wade scored 14 and Brian Grant had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Miami, which has won six of eight home games. Rafer Alston added 11 points and a season-high seven assists.

Pau Gasol scored 19 points and Earl Watson 16 for Memphis, which trailed by 16 at halftime and by nine after three quarters. The Grizzlies, trying to win a franchise-record seventh consecutive game and move five games above .500 for first time in team history, led just once the entire game despite putting five players in double figures.

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DENVER (AP) LeBron James went two picks higher than Carmelo Anthony in the NBA draft, entered the league with more hype and got the better end of the endorsement deals.

But when the two rookie sensations face each other for the second time Tuesday night, Anthony will have one key advantage: a better team.

While Cleveland hasn't been much better with King James than it was without him, Anthony has the Nuggets playing their best basketball in a decade.

``Our confidence level is real high right now,'' Anthony said. ``I'm not saying we're going to beat everybody, but we're going to compete with everybody. That's one thing I know that we're going to do.''

The Nuggets, one of the league's worst teams for the past decade, are staging an impressive turnaround.

At 10-6, Denver is off to its best start since 1994-95 _ its last playoff appearance _ and is just a half-game behind Dallas in the Midwest Division. The Nuggets have won five straight at home and are 7-1 in Denver, their best start there since 1989-90.

Not bad for a team that threatened the league's futility mark twice in six years and tied Cleveland for the worst record a year ago.

``I like the Denver team a lot,'' Dallas coach Don Nelson said. ``They have good young players. They play hard. They rebound.''

And they have Anthony.

After struggling to find his shot early in the season, 'Melo has shot 47 percent the past three games. He's averaging 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists, and has given Denver clutch plays in tight games.

Anthony hit three 3-pointers in overtime two weeks ago against the Los Angeles Clippers, and he had a key putback over 7-foot-6 Shawn Bradley late in a win over Dallas Saturday.

``He's learning with a tremendous amount of responsibility on his shoulders, and he's responding extremely well,'' Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said.

James hasn't been bad, either.

He's averaging 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.4 assists, while proving the jump from high school to the NBA wasn't too big for him. But it hasn't resulted in many wins.

Cleveland has the league's second-worst record at 4-13 and has lost six straight, including a double-overtime loss to Memphis Saturday after blowing a 24-point lead.

Granted, the six losses have come without power forward Carlos Boozer, but the Cavaliers are still 0-10 away from Gund Arena and have a 31-game road losing streak dating to last season.

``We can't keep falling down in the standings, we need to get some wins,'' James said. ``Once we get off the schneid on the road, we'll be off and running.''

Denver's improvement starts with Anthony, but there's much more to it.

Andre Miller has been steady at the point, diminutive Earl Boykins has proved a speedy spark off the bench, and Jon Barry and Voshon Lenard have given the Nuggets the outside shooting that was missing a year ago.

Even the players Denver had last year are better.

Nene added muscle and has become an important contributor. Nikoloz Tskitishvili also gained weight and confidence. Marcus Camby has stayed healthy and been a force inside, and springy-legged forward Chris Andersen is flying in for dunks and blocked shots.

``Collectively, it's a group that has depth and we haven't compromised the defense,'' Bzdelik said. ``And we're able to score more points and we're running, which we wanted to do. Last year, we just didn't have the players to run like we wanted to.''

The first meeting between Anthony and James was billed as the start of NBA's next great rivalry. Celebrities filled the stands, a large national television audience tuned in and more than 300 media credentials were issued for the first game between the most publicized rookies since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson entered the league in 1979.

It proved to be a dud.

James had just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting and didn't score after halftime. Anthony wasn't exactly spectacular with 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting, but at least his team won, 93-89.

The second Bron vs. Melo should be much more subdued.

``It will be more low-key,'' Anthony said. ``We got that first game out of our system. Everybody wanted to see the first game so bad.''