Denver ? In his three previous games, Denver rookie Carmelo Anthony had made just 14 of 36 shots.

Consider the slump over.

Anthony scored 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting, leading the Nuggets past the road-weary Miami Heat, 88-80, Sunday night.

“Even though I missed some shots the last couple of games, I’m going to keep shooting,” Anthony said. “That what I’ve got to do: Shoot, rebound and do everything that I can.”

Did he mention defense?

“I want to pay more attention to the defensive end of my game,” he said. “Coach has stressed that — for me to play better defense.”

Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said Anthony had begun to excel at that part of his game.

“What I really like that he did tonight was try to dig in defensively,” Bzdelik said. “I told him he might have been the best defensive player on the floor over the last eight minutes of the Dallas game (Friday night). He has no excuses now because we know he can defend. And tonight he had seven defensive boards.”

Miami coach Stan Van Gundy also was impressed by Anthony.

“He never looks rattled,” Van Gundy said. “He gets good shots, he plays under control, his decisions are good. He has been shooting at a fairly low percentage, but tonight he was 12-for-17. We couldn’t guard him.”

Rodney White scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter, helping the Nuggets thwart a Miami comeback that reduced a 14-point deficit to six.

Voshon Lenard added 18 points and Nene 17 for the Nuggets, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Lamar Odom had 26 points for Miami, and Eddie Jones and Caron Butler each had 12.

Denver shot 52 percent compared to Miami’s 38 percent.

It was the final game of Miami’s longest road trip of the season, featuring six games in 10 days. The Heat went 1-5 on the trip.

Suns 96, Blazers 92

Phoenix — Joe Johnson scored 25 points, including the go-ahead rebound basket with 18.1 seconds to play, and Phoenix handed Portland its fifth loss in a row. The Blazers have lost nine of 10, including two to Phoenix in a five-day span. Shawn Marion had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and Leandro Barbosa scored 20 for the Suns, who matched their season-long winning streak at three. Zach Randolph scored 25 for the Blazers, on their longest losing streak in two seasons.

Spurs 109, Celtics 92

Boston — Rasho Nesterovic had a season-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, helping San Antonio snap a three-game losing streak. Tony Parker scored 20 points — all by halftime — and Tim Duncan added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs. Paul Pierce scored 19, Mark Blount added 15, and reserve Ricky Davis had 14 for Boston, which lost its fourth straight game.