PORTLAND, Ore. — Carmelo Anthony almost couldn't miss and Greg Oden missed when it mattered most.

Anthony scored 19 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets were helped by Portland's trouble at the free-throw line for a 97-94 victory last night.

Oden missed a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds left, squandering a chance for Portland to go ahead.

"We came out here and stole the win," Anthony said. "It wasn't just an important win. It was a battle."

Anthony hit a jumper with 4:26 left to tie it at 85, then added another to give the Nuggets their first lead since the second quarter.

It stayed close with the teams trading free throws. But Portland started to have trouble at the line and Nene made a hook shot to give Denver a 95-91 lead.

Brandon Roy's bank shot made it 95-93, but LaMarcus Aldridge continued the Blazers' free-throw woes by making just one of two.

After Oden's misses, Anthony made a pair and Roy missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.

"This is a tough one," Oden said. "I definitely stepped up there with confidence thinking I was going to hit both and it didn't go that way."

BULLS 92, SPURS 85

Derrick Rose, who missed most of the preseason with an injured ankle, scored 13 points and had seven assists to lead host Chicago to a season-opening victory over San Antonio.

OVER AND BACK

The Charlotte Bobcats are picking up the third-year, $1.22 million option on the contract of center Alexis Ajinca for the 2010-11 season. ... The New Jersey Nets exercised contract options on starters Courtney Lee, Brook Lopez and Yi Jianlian for the 2010-11 seasons, but declined to exercise the fourth-year contract option on forward Sean Williams.