NBA: Denver 107, LA Clippers 94

DENVER, March 15 (UPI) -- Renaldo Balkman had 22 points and 11 rebounds Saturday night and the Denver Nuggets logged a 107-94 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Carmelo Anthony had 18 points and Nene finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who won their second straight game. J.R. Smith had 17 points and Chauncey Billups scored 10 to go with nine assists.

Al Thornton led the Clippers with 19 points. Eric Gordon and Steve Novak had 17 points apiece for LA, which has lost seven straight games.

The Nuggets led 24-17 after one period and took a 51-46 lead at intermission. Denver extended the lead to 59-46 during the opening minutes of the third quarter and led by double digits most of the way after that.