Denver (16-7) is looking for its fourth straight victory after knocking off Golden State 123-105 on Saturday night. Carmelo Anthony continued his red-hot play with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field.

After averaging 19.8 points and shooting 40.6 percent in his first 18 games, Anthony is averaging 29.3 points and hitting 54.1 percent during the Nuggets' winning streak.

"I thought he did a great job of being patient, letting other guys open the floor up for him, and he struck again," said Billups, who had 16 points and 11 assists against the Warriors. "He's capable of having big nights, and it doesn't take 48 minutes. His patience was great."

Anthony scored 28 points in Denver's 108-105 home win over Dallas on Nov. 7.

Billups has sparked a turnaround in Denver, with the Nuggets going 15-4 since his arrival - a stretch that began with the win over the Mavs. The team is off to its best start since also opening 16-7 in 1976-77, its first season in the NBA.

Billups scored 15 points against Dallas on Nov. 7 and is averaging 18.9 points and 7.0 assists with Denver.

Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin returned from a two-game absence due to a sprained left wrist and had 15 points and six rebounds against Golden State. Martin is averaging 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in his last four road games versus the Mavericks, but had 18 points and seven boards in Denver's last victory in Dallas - 122-109 on Dec. 6, 2007.

Denver has won six of its last seven, but will be visiting a place where it has three victories in the last 24 visits.

The Mavericks (13-9) lost their first four home games of 2008-09, but improved to 5-1 on their season-high seven-game homestand with a 103-99 victory over Oklahoma City on Saturday night.

"This homestand was needed," said point guard Jason Kidd, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in last month's loss to Denver. "We've played pretty well here."

That's certainly been the case for Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a season-high 46 points against the Thunder for his ninth career 40-point game. Nowitzki is averaging 32.7 points during the homestand.

"The basket just looked big," he said. "I kept being aggressive and looking for my shot."

Nowitzki has done that in his last seven home games versus the Nuggets, averaging 31.4 points.

"Dirk does it all the time," said guard Jason Terry, who scored 28 points Saturday. "He got into a rhythm and got into the paint. When he does that, it's going to be a big night."

Terry has had quite a few of those of his own lately. He's come off the bench the last 14 games and averaged 23.2 points as Dallas has gone 11-3. Terry had 20 points and seven assists in the Nov. 7 loss to Denver.