Atlanta Hawks forward Marvin Williams, front, goes up for a basket past Denver Nuggets forward Nene, of Brazil, in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Denver on Wednesday, December 23, 2009. (AP)

DENVER, Colorado, December 23, 2009 (AFP) - J.R. Smith came off the bench to score a season-high 41 points, hitting ten 3-pointers, and spark the Denver Nuggets past Atlanta 124-104 in an NBA game Wednesday.

The Nuggets won for the first time in six starts this season in which they were without a starter, Chauncey Billups having missed three games with a groin strain and Kenyon Martin missing three games with a dislocated finger.

"We needed to end that streak because not everybody is going to be 100 percent every game and not everybody is going to be able to play every game," Martin said. "It was just huge for us to come out with that kind of energy and aggression."

Carmelo Anthony added 24 points and Ty Lawson had 16 for the Nuggets, who won their sixth in a row at home to improve to a league-best 13-1 at home.

Smith was 15-of-25 from the field, including 10-of-17 from 3-point range, and 1-of-6 in free throws.

"It's great to have a player that can take over and end a game like J.R. has done," Denver coach George Karl said. "There's no question he was in a zone, but we need J.R. to be the complete player and work on other aspects of his game."

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points for the Hawks while Al Horford scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds and Joe Johnson added 16 points for Atlanta, which lost for only the second time in nine games.

"We just kind of ran out of energy," Johnson said. "We didn't have the intensity that we normally have."

Thursday’s NBA results
Orlando 102, Houston 87
Toronto 94, Detroit 64
Miami 80, Utah 70
Minnesota 103, New Jersey 99
Washington 109, Milwaukee 97
New Orleans 108, Golden State 102
Portland 98, San Antonio 94
Denver 124, Atlanta 104
Oklahoma City 117, Phoenix 113
Cleveland 117, Sacramento 104 (OT)