Denver, CO (Best E Casino) - Carmelo Anthony exploded for a career-high 49 points and the Denver Nuggets cruised past the sagging Washington Wizards, 111-100, at Pepsi Center.

Anthony had 29 at the half and finished the night 19-for-25 from the floor, hitting all three of his three-point attempts and also draining each of his eight free throws. Allen Iverson had 18 points and 11 assists as Denver won for the fourth time in its last five games.

"'Melo was great," said Nuggets head coach George Karl. "I wanted to give him a chance to get a career high, and he got it, which is a positive."

Kenyon Martin scored 16 points and Linas Kleiza contributed 10 off the Nuggets bench. Anthony Carter dished out eight assists to go with his six points.

Antawn Jamison led Washington with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Andray Blatche had 14 and 10 rebounds. Rookie Nick Young tallied 19 off the bench for the Wizards, who have dropped a season-worst six straight.

DeShawn Stevenson and Darius Songaila had 15 points apiece in a losing cause.

"They jumped on us early, but I was proud of how our guys came back," Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan said. "(Anthony) was hot, and we had some schemes to stop him, but Allen Iverson creates problems for us as well. They are in a good place right now."

Denver raced out to an early 19-8 lead and held a 30-16 advantage after one quarter, with Anthony's 20 more than the Wizards' team output for the quarter. The lead ballooned to 21 on J.R. Smith's three-point play midway through the second, but Washington surged late to cut the margin to 56-47 by the break.

A 15-6 Nuggets spurt, capped by Anthony's two free throws, pushed the lead back to 83-64 with 2:18 to go in the third, and Denver led 88-72 on its way to the fourth.

Washington surged to within 10 around the six-minute mark of the fourth on Young's jumper. But the Nuggets recovered by scoring eight of the next 10 points to go up 102-86 on an Iverson finger roll, and cruised from there.

In the waning minutes, Denver tried to get the ball to Anthony so he could eclipse the 50-point mark, but the Wizards doubled him away from the ball and his night ended at 49.

Game Notes

Anthony's previous career high came on December 27, 2005 against Philadelphia, when he dropped 45...Denver shot 56.4 percent (44-for-78) as a team and never trailed; they made 20-of-22 free throws and had 32 assists...Denver is 21-6 at home on the season...Washington's Caron Butler sat out with a left hip flexor strain...The Wizards previous longest losing streak occurred when they started the season 0-5.