Heading into Wednesday's game at Golden State, Iverson is averaging 18.7 points.

"I can brag to my sons," said Iverson, pausing to reflect on the gaudy numbers he has put up in 12-plus seasons. "My little son is 5 years old. He probably won't get to see a whole lot of me playing basketball. If I've got the stats to show them, that will be special."

When Iverson's career is over, he'll have some spectacular statistics to show off. He easily should pass Moses Malone (27,409) to become the fifth-highest scorer in NBA history and just might challenge Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) for the No. 4 spot.

While Iverson has little chance of catching Kareem Abdul-Jabber (38,387) to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer, he has a reasonable opportunity to become the highest-scoring guard ever. If he averages 21 points and 74 games over the next six seasons (including this one), that would be enough to vault him past Michael Jordan (32,292).

"I don't want to say (Iverson will be retired at) 40," Iverson said about how long he is likely to play. "If I'm healthy, I'm going to play. I know it will be hard to hang the sneakers up because I just love the game so much. ... But I'm not going to play if, when you look at the roster and (the opponent) is calling everybody's name out, and they get to the seventh or eighth name before they mention me."

LAKERS 104, NUGGETS 97: While the Lakers were sleeping Friday night, the Nuggets were on an airplane.

So it wasn't surprising the Nuggets ran out of gas Saturday against the Lakers in their home opener.

Denver had beaten the Clippers in Los Angeles on Friday and didn't get home until the wee hours Saturday morning. The Lakers, meanwhile, were waiting in Denver and resting.

The Lakers outscored the Nuggets 58-45 the second half after trailing 52-46 at halftime. In the fourth quarter, they outscored Denver 28-21.

"It thought a heavy fatigue came into the court in the third quarter," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "Heavy legs. Not as quick."

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant noticed that, and he pounced on it. Bryant scored 14 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers pulled away from a 76-76 tie entering the quarter.

"Kobe Bryant picked us up by the boot straps," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony felt as if he were playing in Army boots. The Nuggets forward returned after missing two games due to a suspension for a plea bargain to an April drunk-driving charge.

Anthony shot just 5-of-15 for 13 points. His NBA-best streak of 207 games scoring in double figures was in jeopardy when he had seven points before hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to make it 208.

"One point in time after the third quarter, I was like, 'OK, ain't nothing going to go in for me today,'" Anthony said.

In the first half, Anthony managed as many points as he had during his suspension, shooting 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-4 from the foul line. Anthony finally got untracked by scoring his first points on a 17-footer with 9:39 left in the third quarter.

Guard Anthony Carter led the Nuggets with 20 points, making his first seven shots and finishing 8-for-9. Forward Kenyon Martin added 18 points.