DENVER — Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony might have to travel back to Denver to deal with a what the team said was a personal matter and could miss their game at Detroit on Tuesday night.

Anthony is averaging a team-high 21.6 points and 7.4 rebounds but has missed 15 games already this season: 10 with a broken bone in his right hand that cost him an All-Star bid, three because of a troublesome right elbow and two for a team suspension to start the season following a drunken driving arrest last year.

Lately he's been bothered by a balky knee .

This is the Nuggets' first trip to Detroit since the Nov. 3 trade between the teams sent Chauncey Billups to Denver and Allen Iverson to the Pistons.