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Denver Nuggets All-Star Carmelo Anthony will miss at least three weeks with a broken bone in his shooting hand, but he won't need surgery.
Anthony (Towson Catholic) was fitted with a red removable splint yesterday after breaking a bone in his right hand in a victory over the Indiana Pacers the night before.
He has been told by doctors he'll be out three to four weeks.
"Hopefully the healing process will be a lot quicker," Anthony said after returning to the Pepsi Center after his visit with a hand specialist.
Anthony was injured 9:44 into the third quarter when Pacers center Jeff Foster swatted at the ball, catching part of Anthony's hand.
He continued to play despite numbness in the hand, scoring 21 points before leaving late in the fourth quarter of a 135-115 win.
"Tough kid," said his teammate, Kenyon Martin.
He's glad he didn't know the hand was broken. He didn't want to come out, not with the game still close.
"We just needed that game," said Anthony, whose team blew a 20-point lead before pulling away again in the fourth quarter. "That was a game last night that we couldn't let slip out of our hands."
Anthony has also been hampered by a bruised right elbow this season, causing him to miss three games in late December. The bothersome elbow will now get some much-needed rest as well.
"I'm going to make this time the best time I can, just by rehabbing," Anthony said.
On the court
Magic 89, Wizards 80: Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points and host Orlando held off a late scoring burst by Caron Butler to beat Washington.Butler had 29 points, all in the second half, but the recently energized Wizards (7-26) failed in their bid to win for the fourth time in six games.
Orlando center Dwight Howard had his league-leading 25th double double, with 15 points and 16rebounds. Jameer Nelson added 14 points for the Magic (27-8), which rebounded from its loss at Toronto on Sunday.
Antawn Jamison scored 13 for the Wizards, who fell to 0-3 against Orlando this season.
Orlando opened the fourth quarter hitting only three of its first 15 shots as the Wizards drew within 83-80 in the final two minutes. Nelson hit a basket and Howard made two free throws with 34 seconds left to seal the game.
Butler had 21 points in the third quarter, three short of tying Lakers guard Kobe Bryant's Magic opponent record set in 2004.
Butler was 0-for-5 in the first half, but made 12 of 19 in the second half.
"In the first half they threw a lot of different things at me," Butler said. "Stan Van Gundy is a former coach of mine [at Miami]. He was getting me out of my sweet spots and throwing a lot of double-teams at me. Once I figured out where they were coming from, I was OK. And then I found my rhythm."
Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said he never wavered from using Butler as his primary weapon.
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