"That's unbelievable, man," Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said while pondering Nene's home field-goal streak, which included a 12-of-12 showing last Sunday against Utah. "But nothing really surprises me with him anymore."

Nene made his final field goal Jan. 20 against Sacramento, hit all 12 against Utah, and then made his first eight Friday.

"That's cool," Nene said. "I was just trying to finish strong and do my best."

Overall, Nene has made 23 of his past 24 shots at the Pepsi Center. He'll next take to the court Tuesday at home against San Antonio.

NUGGETS 110, BOBCATS 99: Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets star forward, returned from a broken right hand Friday night. He had some moments, shooting 5-of-12 and scoring 19 points in a routine win over Charlotte at the Pepsi Center.

Facing the Bobcats, who got a game-high 27 points from guard Raja Bell, made it a very good time to bring back Anthony, who hadn't played since Jan. 5. He was officially cleared to return by a doctor on Thursday, and hadn't gone through a practice.

"It felt pretty good, man," Anthony said. "It was still a little tender, but that's going to be something that I have to fight through. I did pretty well, especially with the state of my conditioning. I thought I was going to be a little winded, but I felt pretty good out there."

Anthony said he didn't feel he was rusty, but Nuggets coach George Karl was a harsher critic.

"I didn't think he ran effectively, but I thought he performed effectively," Karl said. "As the game went on, he probably showed some rust."

Before the game, Karl said it might be six games before the old Anthony returns. But Anthony showed enough that Karl amended that afterward.

"He's an awfully talented player, so it might take quicker," Karl said. "But any time you come back from an injury there's a comfort zone you've got to recoup and a comfort zone with your teammates."

The Nuggets also got 21 points from forward Linas Kleiza.