Nuggets forward Anthony will return to play against Timberwolves

The Denver Nuggets all-star forward Carmelo Anthony wore back his NO. 15 NBA jersey on Monday night to start against the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending a five-game absence cuased by a bruised right knee.

The league’s leading scorer said after the morning shootaround that his bruised right knee was healed enough to play. “I’m really not feeling any pain,” Anthony said. “It’s good to be back out there.”

Averaging 30 points a game, Anthony banged up his knee during a Dec. 28 game against the Sacramento Kings. He was hoping to make it back in time for the much-hyped matchup with LeBron James last Friday but the knee was not ready to work and he had to watch the game from the bench in a fashionable suit as his team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With Anthony’s returning, the previously injury-plagued Nuggets are beginning to return to full strength. The only player unavailable for Monday’s game was rookie guard Ty Lawson, who missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle.

Mavericks ended Cavaliers’ winning streak by beating them 102-95

With a bunch of versatile veterans, the Dallas Mavericks found that they can play any style of game and with any configuration of their lineup. That was proved by Sunday night’s 102-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who played the game with LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal while the Mavericks top scorer Dirk Nowitzki did not appear in his NBA jersey.

Tim Thomas replaced Nowitzki in the starting lineup and did a nice impression with 22 points, and six others scored at least eight points. But it was on defense where Dallas really did a number on the Cavs.

James scored only two of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and O’Neal made only one basket all game. Mo Williams scored just eight points as Cleveland ended a five-game winning streak and a four-game winning streak over the Mavericks.

The Cavaliers fell behind midway through the second quarter and never managed to regain the lead. They tried hard to come as close as 84-83 in the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks broke their hope of regaining the lead with a 12-4 spurt capped by 3-pointers from Jason Kidd and Jason Terry.

Bulls won over Knicks at 98-89

The Chicago Bulls did not head toward another blowout loss as many were expecting before the game. Instead, with Luol Deng scoring 24 points and John Salmons adding 20 points, they won Thursday night’s game over the New York Knicks by 98-89.

The Bulls took control with a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter. Salmons scored seven points in the final 47.7 seconds, hitting a key 3-pointer—an encouraging sight for a team that was counting on him to help compensate for Ben Gordon, who took off Bulls jersey to put on Detroit Pistons jersey during the offseason.

Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah came up big after taking cortisone shots and the Bulls came away with a much-needed win.

As for the Knicks, they did not lose lead until 4 1/2 minutes into the fourth when they were still leading 79-75, but the Bulls scored 10 straight points and 15 of 17 in time to send the Knicks to their second consecutive loss after winning four in a row.

Magic Center Howard scored 18 points in 118-99 win over Raptors

On Wednesday night, for all those who were sitting courtside, with some wearing No.12 Howard jersey, it was just so amazing to watch Dwight Howard have 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks for the Orlando Magic and lead the team to a 118-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.

Rashard Lewis added 21 points and Matt Barnes added 20 to help the Magic cruise to their second straight win with some potent 3-point shooting. Orlando was 14 for 30 from beyond the arc.

The other player who attracted the most attention was Hedo Turkoglu, who appeared in Raptors jersey and was showered with a mix of cheers and boos in the arena where he was a fan favorite before leaving the Magic for Raptors during the offseason. He scored only 14 points for the Raptors.

Top performer from the Toronto was Chris Bosh, who had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assistances, while Howard scored 18 points, 14 rebounds and no assists as the Magic’s top performer.

McGrady helped Rockets win in his season debut

Wearing his NBA jersey, the seven-time All-Star sank a 3-pointer in his first game since Feb. 9. But he wasn’t expecting to play when he arrived at the arena. He walked into the locker room about 90 minutes before the game and his teammates said that Coach Rick Adelman had something to tell him.

“It surprised me,” he said. “I went in there and talked to him, he said he was going to play me about seven minutes and just try to work our way through this. Tonight was that night.”

Partly because Trevor Ariza was suspended by the NBA for one game, Adelman started rookie Chase Budinger and decided to bring McGrady off the bench to help the rookie. Thus we finally saw McGrady playing for the first time in 10 months.

He actually did not do much. Entering at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter to a standing ovation, he missed his first shot, a 20-footer from the wing, and then swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key for his only basket. He sat out the last three quarters. Anyway, he did contribute something in Rockets’ 107-96 win over the Pistons.