Trying to draw a charge, forward Chris Andersen was run over by Grizzlies guard Quinton Ross. Not only was Andersen called for a block, he suffered a broken left rib and will be out two to three weeks.

"You ever had a broken rib?" Andersen, in great pain, said after the game. "You can't breathe."

So the Nuggets (3-3) are breathing less easily as they head east for a three-game trip. After playing at Charlotte on Tuesday, they run into heavyweights Cleveland and Boston.

"We've been all nervous on an injury to one of our bigs," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "I think we were more worried about Kenyon and Nene. ... We're thin."

Karl has "put in my request" to re-sign forward Juwan Howard, waived Nov. 3 when a roster spot was needed to acquire Billups, forward Antonio McDyess and center Cheikh Samb from Detroit for Iverson.

"(Howard) could help us," Karl said.

The Nuggets already have lost center Steven Hunter, who will have knee surgery this week. Hunter could be out for the season, if not his career.

And the Nuggets weren't able to convince McDyess to join them. An agreement to buy out McDyess for about $6 million of the nearly $15 million owed should be finalized Monday, with McDyess clearing waivers Wednesday and most likely re-signing with Detroit after waiting the required 30 days.

"It's tough," forward Carmelo Anthony said of Andersen's injury adding to frontcourt woes. "We're going to have to have guys step up."

NUGGETS 100, GRIZZLIES 90: Chauncey Billups' shot is still rusty. But the Nuggets acquired him to pass.

Billups, the Denver native playing his second game after being acquired Nov. 3 from Detroit, handed out 10 assists as Denver defeated Memphis on Sunday at the Pepsi Center.

Benefiting the most were forward Carmelo Anthony, who totaled 24 points and eight rebounds, and center Nene, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Billups, who was 5-of-17 in his Nuggets debut Friday against Dallas, shot just 2-of-13 for 16 points against the Grizzlies. But Nuggets coach George Karl didn't seem to mind.'

"(Billups) and (Allen Iverson) are totally different types of players," said Karl. "One guy's an orchestrator and another's a scorer. ... It's how they look at the game from the beginning. ... A.I. is anxious and aggressive, and Chauncey is more interested in trying to figure out how to help the team win."

Billups was able to do that in the second quarter after his team trailed 38-28. He checked back in with 10:17 left in the half and had seven assists the rest of the half as the Nuggets cut the deficit to 54-53.

"Guys were running hard and I was just trying to make plays," said Billups, whose team pulled away in the second half.

Billups isn't worried about getting his shot back. He said it will be "simple" and that he needs to "just play."