The Nuggets received one more lucky break than they gave away in their clunky 90-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center, a game with a book's worth of moments in the final 22 seconds alone.

"The karma's changed," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We're winning the close ones. We're winning the ones where we don't always make the plays, but the ball bounces the right way for us."

Carmelo Anthony scored on a baseline dunk past defender Ira Newble with 21.9 seconds left. Then things really got weird.

The Cavaliers' Sasha Pavlovic missed his first free throw by accident, then his second on purpose with 11.9 seconds left. Six-foot-three guard Eric Snow got the rebound, but then Pavlovic threw the ball away with 4.6 seconds left.

After Eduardo Najera hit one of two free throws, Denver had a three-point lead and little time to blow it. The Nuggets purposefully fouled Cavs star LeBron James, who made his first free throw, prompting a planned second miss. Though Denver players felt he left for the rebound early, he pulled it down and got fouled again by Kenyon Martin with just sixth tenths of a second left.

This time James again hit his first shot, but missed the game-tier. Teammate Alan Henderson's potential game-winning tip at the buzzer rolled just off to let the Nuggets off the hook. Denver is now 7-2 in 2006, if barely.

"I just can't believe we gave so many breaks to them," Najera said. "That's the first thing we've got to make sure of. Even if the ball is loose, just tip it back somewhere. Don't let somebody get a hand on it, especially near the rim."