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.''