After serving a 15-match suspension following his involvement in a wild brawl with the New York Knicks last month, Denver's young superstar Carmelo Anthony returned to the court on Monday (US) to take on the lowly Memphis Grizzlies.

The match saw Anthony team up with star recruit Allen Iverson for the first time and the two didn't disappoint their home crowd as they piled on 51 points and dished off 13 assists between them in what was an ominous sign of things to come for the rest of the competition.

Denver tore the game wide open in the first quarter as they led the Grizzlies 38-18 at quarter-time and they never looked back, winning the match 115-98.

Marcus Camby was superb for the Nuggets with 17 points and 17 rebounds whilst Pau Gasol was the lone hand for Memphis with 23 points and 17 rebounds.

The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back at home, after an uncharacteristic showing against the Hornets on Saturday (US), when they defeated the Golden State Warriors 108-103.

However, the Lakers were made to work for it in a tough encounter which saw a total of 15 lead changes take place.

The Warriors were on the cusp of an unlikely win as they headed into the final quarter with a five-point lead, but the Lakers outscored the visitors by 10 points in the last to claim its 27th win for the season.

If it wasn't for the feats of Kobe Bryant, Golden State may well have claimed the win, but the Lakers' no.24 was unstoppable with a brilliant 42 points and eight rebounds and proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Al Harrington was one of the major reasons why the Warriors came so close to victory with a 30-point game.

In Sacramento, the Kings upstaged their more fancied opponents New Jersey after they overturned a 12-point deficit at three-quarter time to claim a memorable 88-87 victory.

Despite a triple-double from Jason Kidd (18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists), the Nets weren't able to hang to a victory which seemed assured after three quarters.

Bad boy Ron Artest was the best for the Kings with 21 points as Sacramento improved its chances of lifting itself off the bottom of the Pacific division by the end of the season.

Meanwhile, San Antonio claimed its 30th win for the season after it impressively defeated the Celtics 93-89 in Boston.

The Spurs busted the game open in the second term when they scored 30-14 and after an evenly matched third quarter they headed into the final period with a 14-point advantage.

The Celtics hit back hard in the final term and got within two points of San Antonio, but the Spurs held on to cement second spot in the Southwest division.

Tim Duncan was the standout for the Spurs with 21 points and nine rebounds as San Antonio shared the load brilliantly amongst the team.

Al Jefferson (26 points, 14 rebounds), Ryan Gomes (20, 7) and Delonte West (27 points) were terrific for the losers but were still unable to alter the result.

In other matches, the Toronto Raptors were too good for the Charlotte Bobcats 105-84, the Orlando Magic defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 90-79 and the Indiana Pacers beat the Chicago Bulls 98-91.

Elswhere, the Miami Heat accounted for the New York Knicks 101-83 whilst the Utah Jazz overcame the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-91.

Monday NBA Results
Denver Nuggets 115 Memphis Grizzlies 98
Los Angeles Lakers 108 Golden State Warriors 103
Sacramento Kings 88 New Jersey Nets 87
San Antonio Spurs 93 Boston Celtics 89
Toronto Raptors 105 Charlotte Bobcats 84
Orlando Magic 90 Cleveland Cavaliers 79
Indiana Pacers 98 Chicago Bulls 91
Miami Heat 101 New York Knicks 83
Utah Jazz 106 Minnesota Timberwolves 91