Denver ? Carmelo Anthony had the best 12 minutes of his young professional career.

Anthony scored 22 of his career-high 37 points in the third quarter, shooting 9-of-11 with four three-pointers in the period, to lead Denver to 95-94 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

“I felt like I couldn’t miss anything in the third quarter,” Anthony said. “And I knew we were going to come back.”

The difference in the end , however, was three free throws from Voshon Lenard after he was fouled by Cuttino Mobley behind the arc with 8.3 seconds left. Maurice Taylor had a chance to win it for Houston but missed a jumper at the buzzer.

Anthony finished 13-for-22 from the field for the Nuggets, who had lost five straight to Houston. Andre Miller added had 22 points and seven assists.

“I hit one three early, then I missed a couple, but I kept shooting,” Anthony said. “Once I got a couple in a row, then the goal got bigger, and they kept coming back to me and I kept shooting.”

“He scores in a variety of ways, with the three, posting up off the drive,” Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “And he was looking for his teammates, too.”

Taylor had 22 points, Mobley added 17 and Jim Jackson 16 for the Rockets.