The Denver Nuggets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 122-100 to earn their third straight victory on Monday night.

Allen Iverson was on fire, especially from behind the three point arc, and finished the game with a season-high 37 points. He made 14-of-20 shots and delivered eight assists as well.

Fellow-All-Star Carmelo Anthony finished with 22 points along with nine rebounds, but the surprise of the night was J.R. Smith who came off the bench and poured 29 points to help the Nuggets win over the Eastern Conference Champions.

"We came out here and played good basketball from beginning to end," said Iverson.

"The Answer" underlined the fact that if J.R. Smith would provide that kind of help off the bench on a regular basis, then it would make it very hard for any opponent to beat them.

"We need that from him off the bench to give off a spark like that. When he's playing like that, it's going to be tough for teams to beat us," Iverson said.

Smith connected on 10-of-13 shots, including a personal-best seven-of-eight from behind the arc.

LeBron James recorded 27 points as he went nine-of-16 from the floor and added 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who are now 4-4. Larry Hughes was ejected after receiving two technical fouls midway through the second period.

"We got our behinds kicked," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "Denver did what ever they wanted to defensively and offensively.”

The Cavaliers had a poor offensive performance. They shot 41.9 per cent from the field and were 21-for-38 from the foul line. The 122 points were the most Cleveland has surrendered since allowing 120 to Philadelphia on Nov. 19, 2005.