Carmelo Anthony hit the game-winning basket as time expired to give the Denver Nuggets a 98-97 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls on Friday.

Anthony nailed a jumper from the right of the key to hand Denver (9-6) its third consecutive victory. The All-Star forward scored 22 points and hit a game-winner for the 14th time of his career.

Anthony’s heroics spoiled a fantastic performance from C.J. Watson, who scored a game-high 33 points for the Bulls (8-6).

Watson started in place of star guard Derrick Rose, who was scratched after waking up Friday with a stiff neck, and gave a Rose-like performance. After Denver took a late 94-91 lead, Watson hit three straight baskets to give Chicago a 97-94 lead with 30.3 seconds left.

Anthony hit two free throws with 24 seconds left, prior to hitting the deciding shot.

Nene scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting for the Nuggets and Ty Lawson added 17 points.

Luol Deng had 24 and 11 rebounds and Joakim Noah had 17 points and 16 rebounds for Chicago.

Denver was without the services of guard Chauncey Billups, who missed his second straight game due to a broken nose and sprained wrist.