Nuggets-Cavaliers Preview

Drafted two picks apart five years ago, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have developed a friendly rivalry even though their teams only see each other twice a season.

But while James has led his Cleveland Cavaliers to more overall success, their head-to-head matchups against Anthony's Denver Nuggets have been a vastly different story.

With three 41-point performances in his last four games, James and the Cavaliers will try to extend their winning streak to six on Wednesday when they welcome in the Nuggets, who are looking for their sixth victory in a row over Cleveland.

James was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft, and entered the league as perhaps the most hyped player in NBA history. It took a few years for him to build the Cavaliers (6-2) into a contender, but he led the franchise to its first NBA finals appearance in 2007 and led the league in scoring last season, averaging 30.0 points.

James got off to a rather pedestrian start in 2008-09, scoring only 19.7 points per game as Cleveland began the season 1-2. Over his last five games, however, he's reverted back to form. James has averaged 35.8 points in leading the Cavaliers to five straight victories, and he's scored exactly 41 points in three of his last four games.

His latest 41 came Tuesday night against Milwaukee, as James went 16-for-24 in a 99-90 victory.

"I could go on and on about how great of a player he is," said point guard Mo Williams, who scored 16 points in his first game against his former team. "As good of a player as he is, that's how good of a teammate he is. ... We know that he is our leader, he is our guy that we are going to go to and expect him to do great things."

James has led the Cavaliers to five playoff series wins, while the Nuggets (4-3) have won just four playoff games in 24 tries since Anthony arrived as the third overall pick from Syracuse.

When James and Anthony have gone head-to-head though, the results have been rather one-sided. Denver has won five straight and eight of 10 meetings with Cleveland, winning twice last season by an average of 26.0 points.

James is scoring 23.3 ppg against the Nuggets, while Anthony has averaged 20.4 points versus the Cavaliers.

Denver started the season 1-3, but has won three straight since acquiring a new running mate for Anthony (23.6 ppg). The Nuggets dealt Allen Iverson to Detroit on Nov. 3 in a trade that landed them former NBA finals MVP Chauncey Billups, and they've yet to lose with him in the lineup.

That's not to say Billups has been perfect himself. The 12th-year point guard is averaging 15.7 points and 6.0 assists, but shooting just 28.6 percent through three games.

"I'm just trying to come in and lead," Billups said. "Come in and share with a lot of these guys my experiences and what it takes to be a good team."

Billups is certainly familiar with the Cavaliers, having faced them four times a season -- and twice in the playoffs -- while with the Pistons. He averaged just 8.5 points against Cleveland last season.

The matchup will also feature two of the three Brazilian players in the NBA, both big men who are off to excellent starts. Nene is averaging 15.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in 34.6 minutes per game for Denver, while Anderson Varejao is putting up 8.8 and 6.0 per game, respectively, off the bench for Cleveland.

Nene leads the league in field-goal percentage (67.2 percent), with Varejao (65.1 percent) close behind.