NBA: Denver 122, Oklahoma City 112

DENVER, April 9 (UPI) -- Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points Wednesday and Denver rolled to its eighth straight victory -- 122-112 over Oklahoma City.

Nene added 23 points and 10 rebounds, Chauncey Billups had 18 points and Linas Kleiza had 17.

Denver maintained a 2 1/2-game lead at the top of the Northwest Division over Portland with three games to play. The Trail Blazers downed San Antonio earlier in the evening, a decision that allowed the Nuggets to move 2 1/2 games in front of the Spurs for the second seed in the Western Conference.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 31 points and Jeff Green had 24. Oklahoma City has dropped 11 out of 14 games.

The Nuggets played without forward Kenyon Martin for the third straight game. He suffered a rib injury last Thursday against Utah.