Carmelo Anthony had 21 points and six rebounds and Reggie Evans added 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 118-102 victory over Turkish Basketball League powerhouse Efes Pilsen in an exhibition game Tuesday night.

Horace Jenkins led Efes Pilsen with 26 points, while Marcus Haislip had 23 points for the perennial Turkish champions who shot 43 per cent from the field and 23-for-26 from the free throw line. Jenkins played at Division III William Paterson, while Haislip played at Tennessee.

Efes Pilsen took a 14-8 lead on two 3-pointers by Haislip. The Nuggets got their running game going and a layup by Earl Boykins helped them finish a 12-4 run that made it 35-22 after the first quarter.

Denver took a 49-33 lead on Anthony Carter's layup off a steal and Anthony's reverse layup. But Cuneyt Erden hit two 3-pointers to help Efes Pilsen pull within 51-43. Denver led 55-44 at halftime.

The Nuggets extended the lead to 88-66 in the last two minutes of the third quarter as J.R. Smith had six of his 15 points.

The Nuggets sat Anthony and Marcus Camby for the fourth quarter.

Efes Pilsen has won the TBL's championship nine of the past 16 years, including four of the last six.

Earlier Tuesday, the Nuggets exercised a three-year option coach George Karl's contract.

© The Canadian Press, 2007