Faried, Mudiay carry Nuggets past Knicks
DENVER -- Kenneth Faried had a season-high 25 points and three blocked shots, Emmanuel Mudiay scored 22, and the Denver Nuggets beat the New York Knicks 127-114 on Saturday night.
Will Barton had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets (11-16), who had seven players score in double figures.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 29 points in his return to Denver. Anthony, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 draft, played his first seven-and-a-half seasons with the Nuggets before being dealt to New York in February 2011.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 points and rookie Willy Hernangomez had a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks (14-13). New York played without Derrick Rose, who sat out his second straight game with a lower back injury.
For the second straight game, the Nuggets never trailed. They scored the first five points of the game, built a 17-point lead in the second quarter and withstood a run by the Knicks in the third quarter that briefly made it a game.
Brandon Jennings' 3-pointer pulled the Knicks to within 70-66, the closest they had been since the first quarter. The Nuggets responded with a 15-3 run to get the lead to 17 again.
Mudiay ignited the rally with a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper as part of a nine-point quarter for him. The lead grew to 18 on Barton's 3-pointer late in the period and New York called a timeout.
Denver's biggest lead was 21 late in the third and New York never got closer than 12 the rest of the way.
As in Thursday's win over Portland, the Nuggets were hot from the field in the first quarter. They hit 11 of their first 15 shots and built a 13-point lead. They followed Thursday's 74-point first half with 62 against the Knicks.
Anthony and Porzingis kept New York in the game, combining for 30 of the team's 54 points at the break.
NOTES: New York G Derrick Rose was out for the second straight game with a lower back injury. Rose was hurt early in Tuesday's loss at Phoenix and coach Jeff Hornacek said Rose hadn't progressed enough during Saturday's shootaround to play. "We're worried if he tries to come back when he's not totally healed and still stiff, all of a sudden you're here for half a game and off for a game," Hornacek said. ... The Nuggets recalled G Malik Beasley from Sioux Falls of the D-League. ... The Hernangomez brothers, New York's Willy and Denver's Juancho, faced each other for the first time in an NBA game. ... Knicks F Carmelo Anthony received a mix of boos and cheers when he was introduced. Anthony spent his first eight seasons with the Nuggets.