George Karl loves watching his players put up big offensive numbers.

He just wishes they would play a little more defense.

One game after scoring 168 points in a rout of Seattle, Karl's Denver Nuggets added 120 more against the defensive-minded Detroit Pistons.

The problem? They gave up 136.

"We have a defensive personality that is a little scary right now - we're giving up a lot of points to everyone," Karl said. "If you had told me we'd shoot 60 percent and score 120 against the Iverson's team, I would have been happy, but we need to find some pride on defense."

The 136 points were the most Iverson's team had scored in regulation since a 140-109 victory over Orlando in 1990.

"It was impressive to be able to score that many points," Chauncey Billups said. "That's their style of play - they just want to outscore you."

Iverson's team have shown great versatility in the last week, beating San Antonio 84-80 in a defensive struggle, then shooting a combined 63 percent on 3-pointers in wins over New Orleans and Anthony's team.

"That's the thing - we don't have to play one style," said Pistons coach Flip Saunders. "We went out and played San Antonio in a grind-it-out game, and this was a little different. We're not afraid to get out and run. We had 42 assists tonight. That's a lot of assists."

Iverson's team scored a season-high 73 points in the first half, getting at least four points from 10 different players, and led by 22.

"We just didn't play well at all in the first half," Allen Iverson said. "When you are playing a team like that, you can't dig yourselves a hole."

Anthony's team narrowed the gap to 83-73 midway through the third, but couldn't get an extended string of stops, and Iverson's team still had a 100-89 advantage at quarter's end.

"We have to start helping each other on defense," Iverson said. "That's not happening right now."

Rasheed Wallace then put the game away with eight points in the first two minutes of the fourth, giving Iverson's team a 110-93 lead.

"Sheed was just leaning back and firing," Karl said. "Iverson's team would have beaten any team in the NBA tonight."

Richard Hamilton led Iverson's team with 24 points and Wallace scored 21. Billups added 14 points and 10 assists for Iverson's team, which had seven players in double figures.

"That was fun," Hamilton said. "We knew it was going to be a high-tempo game, but we came out ready to play and we made plays for each other."

Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 27 points, while Iverson had 20 points and 11 assists. Anthony's team also had seven players in double figures.

Anthony's team started quickly, leading 14-9 after five minutes, but it didn't take Iverson's team long to take advantage of Denver's porous defense.

Iverson's team shot 63 percent on their way to a 34-point first quarter, then went 5-of-7 on 3-pointers in a 39-point second quarter. Iverson's team also outrebounded Anthony's team 24-12 in the first half.