Denver Nuggets forward Nene, center, pulls down a rebound as Philadelphia 76ers guard Louis Williams, left, and center Samuel Dalembert converge on the play in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 105-101 victory in Denver on Friday.

DENVER — The Denver Nuggets played most of the game disinterested in anyone or anything that wasn’t standing within a step of the three-point line.

Odd, then, that they won it with a backboard-shaking dunk from a big guy, Kenyon Martin, who spent most of Friday night acting as though he was one of Denver’s many shooting guards.

Martin took a bounce pass from Chauncey Billups and drove for the go-ahead dunk with nine seconds left to lift the Nuggets to a 105-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Denver trailed by as many as 17 in the middle of the third quarter, needed a season-high 15 three-pointers to stay within striking range, then won a game it probably should have lost thanks to a rare show of aggression at the end.

“Nah, I’m going to take it to the basket,” Martin said, when asked if he felt like taking another jumper when he received the pass from Billups. “The lane was there, their big man just stood under the basket.”

J.R. Smith made seven threes for the Nuggets and finished with a team-high 27 points. Billups had 26 points and 10 assists.

On the possession after Martin’s dunk gave Denver a 102-101 lead, Andre Iguodala of the 76ers got called for traveling.

Then, Andre Miller got hit with a technical foul with 2.9 seconds left. Billups made the free throw, then Chucky Atkins made two more to push the lead to four, seal Philly’s third straight loss — and offer another sobering dose of how hard it is for mediocre teams to win on the road in the NBA.

Iguodala led Philly with 24 points, but didn’t score after finishing a three-point play to give the Sixers an 88-76 lead with 8:20 left.

“The thought that comes to my mind is, bad teams lose games they’re supposed to win, and good teams win games they’re supposed to lose,” Nuggets coach George Karl said.

Miller, used as trade fodder two seasons ago when the Nuggets dealt for Allen Iverson, had 19 points and eight assists for the Sixers. He claimed he was only trying to delay Atkins’ free throws when he got slapped with the ‘T.’

Louis Williams finished with 16 points, and his nice alley-oop to Marreese Speights gave Philly a 101-100 lead with 17.7 seconds to set the stage for Martin.

Trailing by 12 early in the fourth, the Nuggets went on a 20-7 run to grab the lead with 2:29 left and it was almost exclusively from behind the three-point line. Playing without Carmelo Anthony (elbow) for the third straight game, the Nuggets went 12 straight minutes in the third and fourth quarters without making anything from the field but threes.

Smith’s three-pointer with 2:29 left gave Denver a 96-95 lead, its first since the first half.

But the Nuggets won by going hard to the bucket.

Martin took a bounce pass from Billups at the top of the key and, uncovered, drove hard to the hoop where he dunked over Sam Dalembert for the go-ahead points.

Karl said he wasn’t surprised to see Martin so open at the top of the key, especially considering the way the Nuggets had been focusing on three-pointers all night.

“I thought Kenyon made a great read and it’s a basic play,” Karl said. “Shooter’s in a corner, big guys have the middle.”

Philly made this close by doing lots of little things right — rebounding, taking the ball to the hoop, getting to the free throw line — while the Nuggets seemed content to fire away from long range. They also had a season high 24 turnovers.

With the Nuggets trailing by one with a minute left, Smith forced a tough three over Miller and missed, and it looked as though Philadelphia might steal a win on this, the first of a five-game Western road swing in which the combined record of the opponents is 79-65.

But Williams missed a running jumper in the lane on the next possession and Billups responded with a 16-footer for a 100-99 lead with 27 seconds left to set up the finish.

Martin finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for Denver. His go-ahead score was his third basket in the paint; he also made jumpers of 18, 20 and 21 feet.

Also on Friday:

Heat 90

Bulls 77

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade scored 28 points, Daequan Cook hit three big three-pointers in the fourth quarter as Miami pulled away, and the Heat eclipsed last season’s win total by beating the Bulls.

Timberwolves 120

Knicks 107

NEW YORK — Minnesota snapped a 13-game losing streak and won for the first time this season under Kevin McHale, getting a season-best 23 points from Rashad McCants in beating New York.

Bobcats 95

Nets 87

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Raymond Felton scored 22 points, Emeka Okafor added 21 and the Bobcats won for the fourth time in five games.

Hornets 88

Rockets 79

NEW ORLEANS — Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 assists, and New Orleans snapped a two-game skid with a victory over Houston. David West added 23 points for New Orleans, which led throughout.

Pistons 90

Thunder 88

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Allen Iverson’s off-balance runner with 0.2 seconds left gave Detroit a victory over Oklahoma City. Iverson led the Pistons with 22 points. Kevin Durant had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Thunder.

Grizzlies 108

Pacers 105

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — O.J. Mayo scored 18 points, including two key free throws with a second left, and Memphis overcame an early 17-point deficit to beat Indiana.

Jazz 97

Mavericks 88

SALT LAKE CITY — Rookie Kosta Koufos scored a career-high 18 points and Deron Williams added 17 points and 13 assists as short-handed Utah beat Dallas.

Raptors 107

Kings 101

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jermaine O’Neal scored 36 points in his highest-scoring game in two seasons and Toronto ended a 10-game losing streak in Sacramento with a victory over the Kings.

Warriors 99

Celtics 89

OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Jackson scored eight straight points during a decisive fourth-quarter stretch to finish with 28 points, and Golden State sent Boston to back-to-back losses for the first time this season.