Carmelo Anthony's 35 points helped the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 on Wednesday night, hours after New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov announced he would no longer pursue the all-star forward in a megadeal that had been the buzz of the NBA for weeks.

Chauncey Billups and Nene each added 16 points for the Nuggets, who grabbed the lead for good early in the fourth quarter of a game that was close all the way. Russell Westbrook recorded his fifth straight double-double with 28 points and 10 assists for the Thunder, and Kevin Durant chipped in with 22 points.

After the game, Anthony told the team's TV network: "It was personal ... In spite of everything that is going on, I'm still here, ... I'm still a Denver Nugget."

After months of talks aimed at bringing Anthony from Denver to New Jersey, the Nets' new owner announced his team was ending the drawn-out trade talks with the Nuggets.

Prokhorov said the talks had become too public, taken too long and had hurt his team, so he pulled the plug on the proposed deal that featured as many as 15 players and three teams. Prokhorov also canceled a planned meeting with Anthony on Thursday and said there was no chance the trade would be resurrected.

Agence France-Pressse

(China Daily 01/21/2011 page23)