INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ For a scary moment, Denver nearly suffered a major loss.

Antonio McDyess overcame a frightening fall to the court to score 18 points, and James Posey had 19 to lead the Nuggets over the Indiana Pacers 106-97 Thursday night in preseason play.

McDyess was attempting to block a layup attempt by Tyus Edney when he rolled over teammate Raef LaFrentz and landed hard on his back. McDyess briefly laid motionless on the court before he was checked, then walked to the sidelines unassisted.

``He bounced pretty hard,'' said Denver coach Dan Issel, who rushed to the court to check on his star's condition immediately. ``That was a tough fall. Thank goodness he took most of the brunt across his shoulder blades, and not the top of his head.''

After sitting out the final 3:16 of the opening half and being treated with ice, McDyess returned to score 13 points in the third quarter as the Nuggets pulled away.

``I'm going to hate waking up in the morning. I'm pretty sore already,'' McDyess said. ``When I went up I couldn't control myself. I don't know how I got that high or turned around the way I did. All I know is that I flipped.

``I think the coaches and my teammates were more scared than I was.''

Teammate Nick Van Exel was stunned when he saw McDyess lying on the floor.

``I stopped breathing. I was pretty scared. He's the franchise,'' Van Exel said. ``I wasn't surprised to see all the coaches run out as fast as they did. Once he rolled over, I knew he was all right.''

Denver (1-1) built a 47-26 advantage with McDyess scoring 12 points. Indiana played without injured Jalen Rose, Travis Best and Derrick McKey, while Reggie Miller accumulated five fouls in just 95 seconds.

Indiana (1-1) trailed 53-34 with 3:36 left in the third quarter before scoring the final 10 points of the quarter.

The physical problems became worse for Indiana in the third period. Jonathan Bender, who started at point guard with Rose idled by a fractured left wrist, went out of the game with a sprained left ankle. And forward Al Harrington bruised his tailbone when he was knocked to the floor attempting a shot.

``I just turned it. Everything is fine. It shouldn't be a problem,'' Bender said.

``We're kind of snake-bitten right now,'' Indiana coach Isiah Thomas said, adding that he thought Harrington would be fine.

Indiana managed to cut its deficit to 102-95 when Mitchell Butler made two free throws with 58.5 seconds left. The Nuggets held on as Anthony Goldwire made four free throws in the final minute. Goldwire finished 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and scored 14 points.

``Our second unit came in and played pretty hard defensively, got us back into the game,'' Thomas said. ``For the most part, we've got a lot of work to do.''

LaFrentz added 11 points, while Van Exel had 10 points and seven assists.

Jermaine O'Neal led Indiana with 14 points. Jimmy King scored 12 for the Pacers, while Bender and Edney had 11 apiece.