TURKEY BOUND – Melo, Nuggets edge Noah’s Bulls

CHICAGO (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Team USA's Carmelo Anthony and his Denver Nuggets snapped a two-game losing skid with the help of video replay on Tuesday night in their clash at the Chicago Bulls.

The Nuggets led 90-89 after Chauncey Billups split a pair of free-throws.

The Bulls rebounded the intentional miss of the second free-throw attempt by Billups and called timeout with just three-tenths of a second remaining.

When play resumed, the Bulls inbounded the ball to Brad Miller at the top of the key and he scored with a long shot, leading to on-court celebrations by Chicago players.

But the referees reviewed the shot on video replay and ruled the ball had not left Miller's hands in time, thus giving the Nuggets a one-point win.

France center Joakim Noah of the Bulls, who is expected to represent Les Bleus at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, played 43 minutes and had 21 rebounds and two blocked shots to go with his 12 points.

His Great Britain teammate Luol Deng also poured in 21 points.

Anthony had 20 points while Denver’s Brazil center Nene added 11 points and 12 rebounds but also turned the ball over five times.

Here are some notable performances by players who may play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Argentina

• Andres Nocioni - The Argentina forward started and scored 16 points in Sacramento's 101-98 win over Oklahoma City.
• Luis Scola - The Houston Rockets star was held to just 12 points and five rebounds in Houston's 121-103 defeat at Dallas.
• Fabricio Oberto - The Washington Wizards center was out of the starting line-up but still played 17 minutes. He failed to score and had just one rebound in the Wizards' 90-76 defeat at Miami.

Australia

• David Andersen - The NBA rookie played 20 minutes for Houston and scored 13 points while also corralling five boards, blocking a shot and coming up with a steal.

Team USA

• Dwight Howard - The Orlando Magic center scored 15 points, hauled in 10 rebounds and handed out six assists but turned the ball over five times in his team's 93-81 triumph at Charlotte.
• Dwyane Wade - The Miami star torched the Washington Wizards with 41 points in the Heat's win over Washington.

France

• Boris Diaw - The Charlotte Bobcats forward had 14 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals in the team's home defeat to Orlando.

Puerto Rico

• JJ Barea - The Dallas Mavericks back-up playmaker had 14 points and five assists in 23 minutes off the bench in the Mavs' victory over Houston.
• Carlos Arroyo - The Miami Heat reserve had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes of his team's win over Washington.

Germany

• Dirk Nowitzki - The seven-footer had 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in the Mavs' win over Houston. Nowitzki may play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship if German receive a wild card.

Canada

• Joel Anthony - The Miami Heat reserve played 17 minutes and had three rebounds to go with his one point.

Slovenia

• Beno Udrih - A late withdrawal from Slovenia's EuroBasket 2009 squad due to injury, Udrih was in the Sacramento Kings' starting line-up and had 12 points and three assists but turned the ball over four times.

Spain

• Marc Gasol - The Spain center had 20 points and eight rebounds but his Memphis Grizzlies lost for the seventh time in eight games, falling 93-79 at home to Portland.

Iran

• Hamed Ehadadi - The Memphis reserve played seven minutes and scored two points while also blocking a shot and grabbing a rebound.

Serbia

• Nenad Krstic - The Oklahoma City Thunder center scored 12 points and hauled in eight rebounds in his team's defeat at Sacramento.

FIBA