NBA Roundup: Rocky Mountain High

Notes on Tuesday's games in the National Basketball Association ...

• A Denver State Of Mind. Oh great, do we have to start watching the Nuggets now? Carmello Anthony, Marcus Camby, Allen Iverson ... they're sneaking up on us! Denver beat the Lakers 111-105 as Anthony scored 31 points, Camby had 21 points and 20 rebounds, and the Nuggets moved to within 1 games of the sixth-place Lakers in the Western Conference. Kobe Bryant had 39 points for LA, making him the youngest player ever to reach 19,000 career points. Denver coach George Karl missed the game to be in Idaho with his son, who underwent surgery for the removal of cancerous lymph nodes on Monday.

• Bad Clams Not Enough To Stop Mavericks . Dirk Nowitzki missed the game with food poisoning, but Dallas still prevailed over the host Kings, 97-93. Josh Howard had 29 points and Jason Terry 27 for the Mavericks, who played only their second game of the season without Nowitzki.

• Fun With Math. LeBron James, declaring himself "80-85 percent" back from his injury, had 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in the Cavaliers' 101-88 win over Minnesota. We are "75-85 percent" impressed.

• Grizzlies Almost Win! Amare Stoudemire's 27 points led a nail-biting 116-111 victory by the Suns over Memphis, making many Phoenix fans nervous, and several gamblers angry, if we're guessing at the spread.