Allen Iverson helped give Denver coach George Karl his 800th win, finishing with 44 points and 10 assists in the Nuggets' 112-98 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Thursday night.
Karl was handed a Denver jersey with No. 800 on it along with the game ball after beating his former team to become only the 12th coach in NBA history to reach the milestone. He's 800-555 in 19 seasons.
Iverson had his highest-scoring game since being acquired by Denver in a trade with Philadelphia on Dec. 19. His season high is 46 against Chicago on Nov. 24.
Earl Boykins added 24 points, and Reggie Evans had a season-high 18 rebounds.
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Seattle's Damien Wilkins matched his career high with 26 points, and Luke Ridnour finished with 16 points for the Sonics.
Seattle cut a 13-point third quarter deficit to three, 79-76, but Denver closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run _ all by Boykins _ to take a 85-76 lead. Denver opened a 16-point lead midway through the fourth and coasted to its fourth win in five games.
Another major snowstorm blanketed Denver on Thursday afternoon, but there was no postponement this time. Denver's game against Phoenix on Dec. 20 had to be postponed due to blizzard conditions that shut down the airport and forced Gov. Bill Owens to declare a statewide disaster emergency.
Owens declared another disaster emergency Thursday _ the storm was expected to dump close to 18 inches of snow _ but the Nuggets and Sonics still played in front of a little more than half-filled arena.
The Nuggets and Sonics both planned to make dashes for the airport after the game to get out of town for their road games Friday night. The Nuggets will play in New Orleans, and Seattle will travel to Minnesota.
Seattle star Ray Allen didn't make the trip to Denver after his wife gave birth to a boy Wednesday, but may rejoin the team Friday night in Minnesota. Allen has been bothered by a right ankle injury that's kept him out of three of the last five games.
Denver's Marcus Camby missed his third straight game with a fractured right finger on his shooting hand. With Nene out as well with a right knee injury, the Nuggets gave Jamal Sampson his third career start. He finished with seven points and nine rebounds.
Denver used its fourth different lineup in four games since Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith were suspended for their roles in a brawl against the New York Knicks on Dec. 16. Denver is 3-1 without Anthony and Smith.
The fact Karl's milestone win came against a Seattle team that ran him off after the 1997-98 season didn't make it all the more sweet. Karl said he no longer has any resentment toward the franchise he helped lead to the NBA finals in 1996.
"I'm just kind of humbled by the opportunity to win 800 games," Karl said.
Karl's first win was Nov. 15, 1984, against Atlanta when he was coaching Cleveland. He'd started the season 0-9 and never thought he'd reach this type of accomplishment.
"When I first started, I thought 250 (games) would be great," he said. "I thought 250 and you'd retire into a college job and coach into the sunset."
Notes:@ Sonics F Rashard Lewis missed his third game since having surgery on his right hand. He injured a tendon against Dallas on Dec. 20. ... Karl was 384-150 in 6 1/2 seasons with the Sonics. ... Chris Wilcox received his second technical for arguing a call with 18.3 seconds left in the third quarter and was ejected. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
