DENVER — Anthony Carter made all three of his baskets count. Especially that last one.

His floater in the lane with 0.8 seconds left in double overtime gave the Denver Nuggets a 112-111 win over the shorthanded Houston Rockets last night.

Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points and had a career-high 16 rebounds, and Allen Iverson had 36 points and nine assists for Denver, which ended a two-game losing streak.

With the Rockets focusing on Anthony and Iverson on the last possession, Carter got the chance to be the hero. He got the ball at the top of the key, used a pump fake to get Bonzi Wells in the air and then stepped under him and hit the winner.

"Bonzi switched off and went to 'Melo and I was wide open," said Carter. "He went for the shot fake, I stepped under him for a little runner. In that situation you don't have a chance to think about much."

The Rockets have lost three straight and five of their last six.

"You have to make people shoot over you," Houston head coach Rick Adelman said. "You can't go for a pump fake."

Yao Ming had 26 points and 19 rebounds and Luther Head scored a season-high 22 for the Houston, which played without leading scorer Tracy McGrady, who sat out with a sore left knee.

"We hung tough, dug deep inside and found some energy to find a double-overtime game," said Rafer Alston, who had 18 points. "This one was tough. We were right to end and they hit a big shot."

The Rockets nearly pulled out the win. Yao's two free throws with 4.5 seconds left gave the Rockets the lead, but Carter, who had six points in the game, came through with a 15-footer.

"It looked good all the way," Iverson said. "They played good defense on 'Melo and myself, and we had another teammate step up and make a play."

NETS 107, HEAT 103

MIAMI — Vince Carter scored 31 points, Richard Jefferson added 29 and Udonis Haslem had 18 points and 12 rebounds, including a 19-footer as time expired to force overtime.

Miami's Dwyane Wade started the extra period with a steal and dunk, but New Jersey went on a 6-0 run and did not trail the rest of the way.

CAVALIERS 94, LAKERS 90

CLEVELAND — LeBron James scored 33 points and shut out Kobe Bryant when the NBA's top two scorers went one-on-one in the final 2:23.

James added 10 rebounds and five assists. Bryant finished with 21 points, but missed two shots with James chasing him in the final minutes of play.

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.