QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First quarter: The Bobcats opened their three-game road trip with a slow start as the Nuggets jumped out to an 8-1 lead just over two minutes into the contest. Charlotte fought back, however, and cut the margin to two at 15-13 on a Keith Bogans' three-pointer with 4:58 remaining. Denver Head Coach George Karl took a timeout to settle his team down and the Nuggets responded. Carmelo Anthony hit a three-pointer and then, after Marcus Camby blocked a Primoz Brezec attempt, added two free throws to ignite a 14-4 run to end the quarter. Anthony finished with 11 points as Denver took a 29-17 advantage into the second.

Second quarter: Bryon Russell increased the Denver lead to 14 with a jumper to open the quarter, but again the Bobcats fought back. Emeka Okafor hit two baskets and Bernard Robinson added a three-point play in a 9-2 Charlotte run to cut the margin to seven (33-26) with 8:51 remaining. Denver answered with a Earl Boykins basket, Wesley Person three-pointer and then back-to-back three-pointers by Russell over the next two minutes to build its lead back to 14 (44-30). Charlotte countered with three-point shooting of its own as Bogans and Jason Kapono knocked down baskets from long range and again the Bobcats were within six (46-40) with 4:24 until the half. But just as they did in the first quarter, the Nuggets closed strong -- outscoring the Bobcats 16-7 in the closing minutes to take a 62-47 halftime lead. Anthony led all scorers in the first half with 15 points. Russell added 12 points as the Nuggets connected on 7-of-11 from three-point range in the opening half. Okafor led Charlotte with 11 points and four rebounds.

Third quarter: The Nuggets pushed their advantage to 16 early in the third before the Bobcats mounted one last charge. Trailing 67-51, Charlotte went on a 13-6 run capped by a Kapono three-pointer to cut the deficit to nine with 7:54 remaining. It was as close as Charlotte would get the rest of the game, however, as Denver countered with a 17-8 run of its own to put the game out of reach. Anthony and DerMarr Johnson each scored 10 points in the quarter as the Nuggets took a 94-78 lead after three.

Fourth quarter: The Bobcats didn't get closer than 16 in the final period as the Nuggets bench led by Person (13 pts), Eduardo Najera (13) and Boykins (10) increased the Denver lead to as much as 28 at 118-90 with just over three minutes remaining. Anthony led seven Nuggets in double figures with 25 points. Andre Miller had 14 assists and Boykins added 11 as Denver recorded an NBA season-high 40 assists on its 46 baskets. The Nuggets also shot a season-high 54 percent (46-of-85) from the field. Keith Bogans led Charlotte with 19 points. Emeka Okafor added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Bobcats, who have lost eight straight.

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GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
(on the game)We’re scoring a lot of points, but were not stopping anybody. We’re basically conceding shots and guys are making them. There is no attention to shooting the basketball, and in this league if teams see open shots they are going to make them. Probably after the first five to six minutes, I told them the altitude wasn’t a factor and they looked at me and said – no way, so that didn’t work. Denver did exactly what they are suppose to do, they pushed the basketball and made shots.

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INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM

JASON KAPONO
(on the game) I just try to come in here and help this team win. We started out slow, and they were playing well, and we weren’t hitting our shots, and obviously we weren’t playing very good defense. They shot close to 70% in the first half and that’s why they came out and scored 120 points.

EMEKA OKAFOR
(on the game) The altitude was bothering me from the very beginning, it wasn’t any joke, I just tried to work through it and play it out. I thought it was a bunch of nonsense, (altitude), I thought, this is not going to bother me, and then in the first quarter it hit me. Four minutes left, I was dragging I was thinking my goodness.