Originally published Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM

NBA Notebook | Broken hand to keep Carmelo Anthony out 3-4 weeks

Denver Nuggets All-Star guard Carmelo Anthony will miss at least three weeks after breaking a bone in his shooting hand in a victory over...

By The Associated Press

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DENVER — Denver Nuggets All-Star guard Carmelo Anthony will miss at least three weeks after breaking a bone in his shooting hand in a victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

He has been told by doctors he'll be out three to four weeks. Surgery would've sidelined him much longer.

"Hopefully the healing process will be a lot quicker," Anthony said.

At 24-12, Denver is off to its best start since its first year in the NBA in 1976-77. Anthony is averaging 21.1 points.

Notes

• Nuggets guard J.R. Smith is due to appear in a New Jersey municipal court next week to face traffic summonses stemming from a car crash that killed a friend in 2007. A grand jury in October declined to indict Smith on vehicular homicide charges that could have carried a jail term. Police say Smith drove his SUV around a stopped car at a stop sign and into the path of an oncoming car. His friend, Andre Bell, was killed.

• Elton Brand is making progress while rehabbing his injured right shoulder and the 76ers forward could be back with the team in about two weeks. Brand signed an $80 million, five-year contract with the Sixers in the offseason.

• Two days after he was surprisingly whistled for traveling in the closing seconds of Cleveland's loss at Washington, LeBron James maintains his "crab dribble" was legal and that he has no plans to remove it from his arsenal. The Cavaliers superstar said it was a "bad call" and that "they (the NBA) need to look at it and they need to understand that's not a travel."

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