Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony woke up the unbeaten Nuggets in a 44-point third quarter and Denver continued its best start since 1985-86 with a 122-94 victory over the winless New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.

The win was the fifth straight for Denver, one shy of the 85-86 start, and it handed the Nets their fifth straight loss, tying the worst start in franchise history, set in 1996-97.

Ironically, New Jersey led 51-50 at intermission until Denver put on an offensive show in the third quarter, hitting 17 of 25 shots and outscoring the Nets 44-26.

Chris Douglas-Roberts had 19 points to lead the Nets, who were without All-Star guard Devin Harris and four other injured players.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)