Denver at Dallas (November 22) Denver led 5-3 with 10:25 remaining and Dallas went on a 13-2 run to go up 16-7 with 6:20 to go. Dallas led in single-digits the rest of the quarter, including by 9 points 3 more times. Dallas led 32-25 after 1. Dallas shot 5-7 3-pointers in the quarter. Steve Nash had 14 points including 4-4 3-pointers and Dirk Nowitzki had 7 rebounds (but 0 points on 0-5 FG). Dallas was still unable to build a lead larger than 9 points in the 2nd quarter and led 41-36 with 6:50 to go. The Nuggets then scored the next 6 points to go up 42-41 with 5:40 left. The teams traded leads a couple of times and Denver scored the last 9 points of the quarter, capped by a ridiculously easy driving layup by Andre Miller at the quarter buzzer, to go up 60-54 at the half. The 2nd quarter was the Miller show as he had 11 points and the Nuggets out-scored Dallas 35-22 in the quarter. The Mavs opened the 3rd quarter with their best lineup of Nash, Michael Finley, Nowitzki, Antoine Walker, and Antawn Jamison. Despite that lineup, the Nuggets were able to hang on to a single-digit lead. Nowitzki _finally_ hit his first field goal of the game with 5:45 left in the quarter, ending a string of 7 straight misses. Denver led 75-72 with 3:50 remaining and Dallas went on a 13-2 run to go up 84-77 with 40 seconds to go. Dallas led 86-80 after 3. Walker had 11 points, Jamison had 8 points, and Nowitzki had 8 points in the 3rd quarter as Dallas out-scored Denver 32-20. A jumper by Finley and 3-pointer by Nowitzki gave Dallas a 95-82 lead with 9 minutes left. A jumper by Jamison gave the Mavs their largest lead at 105-90 with 5:20 to go. Even though the Nuggets were unable to cut Dallas' margin into single-digits, the win did not feel secure until the final minutes of the game. Dallas won 115-101. Dallas looked lack-luster in the 1st half and Denver looked like they were going to run Dallas out of the building. But fortunately the Mavs picked up their energy and defense in the 2nd half and came out with the victory. Denver had 28 fast break points in the 1st half and only 5 fast break points in the 2nd half. Denver shot 46% FG in the 1st half and only 31% FG in the 2nd half while Dallas shot 41.7% FG in the 1st half and 53.7% FG in the 2nd half. It was the back end of a back-to-back for Denver. For the game, Dallas shot 47.2% (42-89) FG including 9-17 3-pointers and Denver shot 38.9% (37-95) FG including 4-20 3-pointers. Both teams shot free throws well as Dallas shot 22-26 FT and Denver shot 23-28 FT. Denver did out-rebound Dallas 52-43 including 19-11 offensive, but Dallas had the better team game in dishing out 26 assists while Denver had just 14. It was a very good game for the 2 Ants. Antoine Walker had a very well-rounded game and was very aggressive in the 3rd quarter. He had 25 points including 11-18 FG, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. Antawn Jamison, playing despite a tweaked hamstring (he hasn't missed a game in over 3 seasons), had 26 points including 10-16 FG and 8 rebounds. After a strong 1st quarter, Steve Nash was quiet most of the rest of the game. He finished with 18 points including 4-4 3-pointers and 8 assists. The Mavs won despite Dirk Nowitzki having a miserable game, before he somewhat found a bit of a shooting touch - it was so bad that he actually blew a dunk attempt. Despite his shooting woes (5-15 FG) he did manage a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Finley also had a quiet night with 12 points and 6 assists. Those 5 got most of the minutes in the game. Eduardo Najera started, but didn't see much time after halftime as Don Nelson elected to play without a true or fake center [Shawn Bradley and Danny Fortson got DNP-CDs]. Najera had 5 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes. Travis Best had the fun duty of chasing around little Earl Boykins when ever the Nuggets put him out (both played 16 minutes - a season low for Boykins) and did a good job of containing him. Best didn't have many stats with 1 missed field goal attempt, 3 assists, and 2 steals, but got praise from the coach in the post-game press conference. Tony Delk returned from his 5 game absence due to a strained left hamstring and was played sparingly. He had 6 points and 1 rebound in 8 minutes. Josh Howard had 16 foul-prone minutes and had 4 points, 2 steals, and 2 blocks before fouling out. Sporting a new buzz cut, Andre Miller was the high man for Denver with 22 points and 6 assists. Rookie Carmelo Anthony had a double-double with 16 points (but 0-6 3-pointers) and 10 rebounds. Voshon Lenard kept jacking up shots and managed to get 16 points despite shooting 5-21 FG. Jon Barry gave a nice boast off the bench with 20 points including 7-10 FG and 3-4 3-pointers. Earl Boykins had 9 points including 4-6 FG and 2 of his shots were just ridiculously tough with the clock running down. Marcus Camby had 6 points and 11 rebounds and rookie Francisco Elson had 7 points and 8 rebounds. Quotes Don Nelson: "It was a really good 2nd half. I was very displeased in the 1st half. We made a change for the 2nd half because we felt that was the way to win the game. We made a decision to go with our 3-4 team [Nowitzki, Walker, and Jamison]. I didn't think we really needed a center tonight against that team. We had played really poor defense in the 1st half and I thought all those guys helped get our defense playing better in the 2nd half." Nelson: "I thought it was a fairly successful 2nd half. We had the whole thing going, the offense and the defense. But the defense really made our offense go. We let our guard down by having a poor offensive game in the 1st half. Your defense has to carry your offense especially when you are struggling your shot like we were tonight. I think that is exactly what happened in the 2nd half. I thought our 2 new players were sensational on the offensive end for sure. Antoine Walker was consistent with his rebounds, his defensive game, and his assist game. He had the whole package going tonight." Nelson: "I thought we would play better. They played last night and probably ran out of gas, but I think they played very well against us. We had to keep our best players in there for the majority of the game. I think this was Travis Best's best game for us. He really did a good job defensively and he ran the ball well. For [Boykins'] 9 points, he made 3 incredible shots." Nelson on Delk (?I thought he was talking about Jamison with this answer): "He said he was fine. I just have to communicate with my players. He didn't do much in practice and then he felt better today. We tried to keep him warm when he was coming off the bench. He was very successful in the 2nd half." Nelson on Walker defending Anthony: "I thought he worked really hard against him but we also had a lot of help for him. We switched off a lot on certain plays and so everyone really took a shot. He is a good looking young kid and he is really athletic. He has got a great future." Michael Finley: "Our main focus coming into the 2nd half overall was to generate some energy on the defensive end and we did that. It enabled us to get out on the break and get some easy opportunities to score. It all worked to our favor and we got key stops and big buckets when we needed them." Finley on the changes after halftime: "We knew that transition was a big factor for the game, but once we made our adjustments at halftime, we were able to limit their fast break opportunities and make our own." Finley: "We know they were a young team that plays hard for 48 minutes. They have a quality rookie in Carmelo Anthony. They seem to generate their own style of play. We didn't want to get in running match with them. We wanted to settle them down a bit, make them run their offense and make it a more defensive game." Steve Nash: "With the versatility we have, we're going to have some mismatches. They had their burst, but we hung in there and were able to wear them down." Antoine Walker: "In the 2nd half we stopped their fast break and started playing our brand of basketball." Walker: "In the 1st half, they just outran us. We were able to catch ourselves and take control of the game." Walker: "We didn't have it going defensively early. We let them get in transition. We gave up 28 points in transition in the 1st half and that's too much." Walker: "I wanted to be more aggressive offensively as far as not just being able to score but just to put some pressure on them. I think tonight we didn't have it going defensively. We let them get out in transition." Walker on 3-pointers: "We've got to make those so we can put some pressure on the defense. Tonight we were able to make a few." Antawn Jamison on starting the 2nd half: "I was kind of surprised when [Nelson] said I was going to start the 2nd half. We just started clicking, especially defensively. We made it tough for those guys. We didn't do it right away, but we turned it on during a couple of possessions and really got it going." Jamison on halftime: "[Denver's] penetration was killing us. We talked about the penetration and how they were getting a lot of easy baskets. We wanted to make it difficult for those guys and make them run some half court offense and beat us that way. Once we got back and eliminated their penetration and we started to rebound, that gave us opportunities to run the floor." Jamison on playing despite his tweaked hamstring: "Back in my first couple of years in the league, I vowed to myself I was never going to miss any games unless I couldn't walk. Obviously, I'm not going to be out there if I can't perform, but I was able to do some things." Jeff Bzdelik: "For the 4th game in 5 nights, my team competed very hard. We got a little sideways offensively and defensively through certain short periods of the 2nd half. You can't beat one of the league's elite teams unless you're rock solid throughout the course of 48 minutes." Bzdelik on Dallas' 3rd quarter run: "We had a couple of breakdowns defensively and offensively we had a couple of breakdowns as well and we had a couple of missed shots. That is just enough to give a team like Dallas the edge they need at home to pull away." Bzdelik on Dallas: "They're loaded. There's not much else you can say. They're very potent at all positions." Bzdelik: "We are very disappointed. We'll go back to work Monday and improve on those things that we didn't do well tonight." Bzdelik on Anthony: "He is a very young player, he is 19 years old. He is consistently rebounding the ball for us. He is trying to defend. He is learning and I think he is doing great." Carmelo Anthony on Dallas' 3rd quarter run: "They hit some big shots. Antoine hit a couple of big 3's and Dirk seemed to get his shot going in the 2nd half. We competed really well tonight. We shared the ball and shot the ball pretty well. Overall we did a pretty good job." Anthony on if fatigue was a factor: "Maybe a little. I don't know how the other players feel, but I feel pretty good. I don't feel sluggish or anything." Voshon Lenard: "We've had a lot of games the last few nights. I'm proud. We've been playing hard. [This game] shows our character. We're starting to come together." Dallas Mavericks 115, Denver Nuggets 101 at Dallas (November 22) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 32 22 32 29 - 115 .458 .529 .472 .846 Denver 25 35 20 21 - 101 .440 .200 .389 .821 Halftime: Denver 60-54 3rd Q: Dallas 86-80 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 5:32 1st, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 7:08 2nd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 5:28 3rd, Dallas defensive 3 seconds 2:43 4th Refs: Ron Garretson, Mark Wunderlich, Phil Robinson Attendance: 20,122 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Nene (strained left groin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 40 11-18 2-5 1-1 25 2-14 6 3 2 1 2 Dirk Nowitzki 39 5-15 1-2 8-9 19 2-11 1 0 3 0 2 Eduardo Najera 17 2-6 0-0 1-3 5 2-3 0 0 2 1 1 Michael Finley 34 5-12 2-4 0-0 12 1-1 6 2 0 0 1 Steve Nash 36 5-10 4-4 4-4 18 2-3 8 3 2 2 0 Antawn Jamison 34 10-16 0-0 6-7 26 1-8 0 2 2 2 1 Josh Howard 15 2-7 0-1 0-0 4 1-2 1 0 6 2 2 Travis Best 16 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 3 1 2 2 0 Tony Delk 8 2-3 0-0 2-2 6 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 Marquis Daniels 1 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 42-89 9-17 22-26 115 11-43 26 11 19 11 9 Denver Nuggets REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Carmelo Anthony 40 7-18 0-6 2-3 16 2-10 3 3 3 1 0 Francisco Elson 27 2-9 0-0 3-4 7 4-8 0 1 3 0 0 Marcus Camby 36 2-5 0-0 2-4 6 4-11 0 1 4 1 2 Voshon Lenard 29 5-21 1-6 5-5 16 2-4 0 1 2 0 0 Andre Miller 32 8-18 0-4 6-6 22 2-4 6 1 1 3 0 Earl Boykins 16 4-6 0-0 1-1 9 0-0 2 2 2 0 0 Jon Barry 26 7-10 3-4 3-3 20 2-4 3 1 1 1 0 Chris Andersen 16 2-5 0-0 1-2 5 2-8 0 2 4 1 1 Ryan Bowen 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 0 1 0 0 0 Nikoloz Tskitishvili 11 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 1 2 0 0 Totals 48 37-95 4-20 23-28 101 19-52 14 16 22 7 3 patricia