Nuggets-Mavericks Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Dec 25 2011 10:23PM

The start of the Dallas Mavericks' title defense couldn't have gone much worse.

The Mavericks won't have to wait long to try to bounce back Monday night at home in the Denver Nuggets' season opener.

After Dallas raised a banner to celebrate its first NBA title Sunday, the Mavericks fell behind by as many as 35 points in a 105-94 loss to Miami in a finals rematch that was not as close as the final score.

Coach Rick Carlisle preached patience for his new-look squad, which lost center Tyson Chandler and backup point guard J.J. Barea and added forward Lamar Odom and guards Vince Carter and Delonte West.

"We're going to have to forge an identity with this team; it's a different team," Carlisle said. "That's work, and it's going to take honesty, and it's not going to be easy."

Odom had a terrible Mavericks debut with four points, four rebounds and four fouls in 13 minutes. The reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year was 1 of 6 from the field before getting ejected in the third quarter.

"We've got to get better and it will take a little time to get better," Odom said.

Jason Terry led Dallas with 23 points while star Dirk Nowitzki added 21 on 6-of-15 shooting.

The Mavericks lost both home games against the Nuggets last season, going 1-3 in the season series. Three of those meetings, however, came when Carmelo Anthony was with Denver.

This will be Denver's first full season without Anthony since 2002-03. The Nuggets went 18-7 after trading Anthony to New York to finish with 50 wins last season, losing to Oklahoma City in five games in the first round of the playoffs.

In a league in which teams like the Knicks and Heat are trying for success by stockpiling superstars, Denver is without one. Danilo Gallinari averaged 14.7 points in 14 games for Denver last season after being acquired from New York.

"What we're trying to do is start where we left off last year and I think we feel now we can get there," coach George Karl said.

One reason for optimism is that Denver re-signed its top two free agents, Nene and Arron Afflalo. Nene averaged 14.5 points last season and Afflalo a career-best 12.6.

"These guys are very valuable to the organization, and they are very skilled players," general manager Masai Ujiri told the Nuggets' official website. "Rather than go out and find players like them, I think you keep the ones you have."

Point guard Andre Miller came over from Portland for a second stint with the team while the Nuggets also acquired perimeter players Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez from Dallas on Dec. 13.

"Maybe there will be some pieces that will be different and we might not be as good in certain areas, but I think we can get to the point where some of the success we had last season can be repeated," Karl said.

Afflalo missed the first two games of the playoff series against the Thunder with a hamstring injury and struggled to average 11.3 points on 35.3 percent shooting in the next three contests. He's healthy now, and hopes to resemble the player who averaged 14.3 points on 53.3 percent shooting in three games against Dallas last season.

"I'm excited to be more of a leader of the team," said Afflalo, whose jumper beat the buzzer and the Mavericks 121-120 on Feb. 10.

Lawson, Nuggets cruise by defenseless Mavs 115-93

By JAIME ARON
Posted Dec 27 2011 12:34AM

DALLAS (AP) Ty Lawson and the Denver Nuggets opened their season with a performance that sent a clear message to the rest of the NBA.

Not about them. About the Dallas Mavericks.

The reigning champions have quickly become a team everyone wants to play. There's no telling which is worse right now, their offense or defense, their conditioning or chemistry, as they were drubbed for a second straight game, losing 115-93 to the Nuggets on Monday night.

Dallas gave up 20 straight points in the second quarter and had a stretch of 14 straight missed shots during a 9:52 drought between baskets. It was so bad that their player of the game, Sean Williams, threw up when he left the court.

Williams, the 13th and final guy off the bench, was so gassed from scoring 12 points in 11 energetic minutes that he vomited in front of the team's bench. Teammates and owner Mark Cuban laughed, and fans in the area gave a light-hearted standing ovation while an usher mopped up the mess.

Williams wasn't sick, just not quite in game shape because of the lockout. Of course, the way things are going for Dallas, plenty of jokes were made about that being an editorial statement about their performance.

"We look old and slow and out of shape - a bad combination," said Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 20 points and sat out the entire fourth quarter for a second straight game, yet another indication of how bad things are going. "I still think this team has a lot of potential. But we have to turn the corner."

The Mavs trailed by 33 in the third quarter, a day after being down by 35 in the third quarter against Miami. Counting a pair of preseason games against Oklahoma City, Dallas has been behind by at least 23 points in every game since being crowned champs.

There are plenty of reasons to choose from: an overhaul of their rotation, the shortened training camp and other teams being motivated to take them down.

"We're not comfortable with each other on both ends of the floor," Shawn Marion said. "We're trying to get acclimated and you can tell it's not flowing the way it should be and there's going to be some bumps."

The challenge for coach Rick Carlisle is finding the right combination of players. He's trying to squeeze in Lamar Odom, Vince Carter and Delonte West to replace Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and others, all with little practice time. Carlisle already has seen a lack of trust on defense, and that throws everything else out of whack.

"We're going to recharge tomorrow, have a hell of a practice on Wednesday and then we've got to go up to Oklahoma City and we're going to have to play a lot better," Carlisle said. "I've got a lot of work to do."

The Nuggets hope this was an indication of what they can be like when they have everything clicking, regardless of the foe.

Lawson made 8 of 9 shots in the first half, and finished with 27 points. Andre Miller and Al Harrington each scored 18 points off the bench, and Denver's deep, athletic roster scored on 19 of its 25 possessions in the second quarter.

"We've been jelling real quick," Lawson said. "I knew we'd come out strong. ... That's when we're good, when we get out and run. It's my job to make sure the tempo is fast and guys are running in those lanes."

Denver made only 12 baskets in the second half, but it hardly mattered. The Nuggets led by 27 at halftime, and stretched it during the third quarter.

"It's way too early to get crazy but it felt good," Nuggets coach George Karl said.

Danilo Gallinari had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Arron Afflalo scored 11.

Dallas was so out of sync that fans were booing before halftime. The jeers came when a turnover near midcourt turned into a three-on-none fast break for Denver. The Nuggets had enjoyed so many easy baskets at that point that they didn't even bother doing anything fancy, with Gallinari softly tossing the ball to Harrington for a routine dunk that made it 65-41.

For Dallas, Jason Kidd scored 12 points, Carter scored 11 and Rodrigue Beaubois scored 10. Aside from Nowitzki and Kidd, the other three starters (Marion, Brendan Haywood and West) scored a combined 11 points.

Odom scored three points, making only 1 of 10 shots.

"We look like a team that's new," he said.

Williams played with as much intensity as he could muster because this is his second time in the NBA. After being told he wouldn't return, he's trying to prove he has staying power.

Leaving the way he did isn't the kind of mark he's trying to make.

Williams actually started losing it while on the court. He caught it in his mouth and hustled off with his cheeks full. He couldn't make it to the tunnel, or even a trash can.

"It was awkward, man, pretty awkward," he said. "It's never happened to me before - not ever, even in a practice."

NOTES: Dallas is 0-2 for the first time since 2006-07, which is also the last time the Mavs were coming off a trip to the NBA finals. That team actually went 0-4, yet wound up winning 67 games. ... Denver got Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer in a trade from Dallas during training camp. Fernandez scored eight points and Brewer had five. ... The Mavs forced a shot-clock violation on the opening possession of the second half and drew one of the biggest cheers of the night. They ended up keeping the Nuggets below 30 points in the quarter, yet Denver grew its lead anyway. ... Kenyon Martin, a Dallas native and former Denver star, watched from the stands. ... West started at shooting guard instead of Carter, who started on opening night. Jason Terry replaced West to start the second half.

Nuggets-Mavericks notebook

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com
Posted Tuesday December 27, 2011 12:00AM

THE FACTS: For the second straight day, the defending champs looked defenseless. Ty Lawson scored 27 points to lead five Denver players in double figures as the Nuggets opened their season with a lopsided 115-93 victory Monday in Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 for the Mavericks, who fell behind by more than 30 points for the second consecutive game and dropped to 0-2 on their home court.

QUOTABLE: "It's way too early to get crazy, but it felt good."
-- Nuggets head coach George Karl

THE STAT: After giving up 30-plus points to Miami in each of the first three quarters on Sunday, the Mavericks allowed 32 points in the first quarter and 37 in the second to Denver. That's five of the first six quarters. Last season, no Dallas opponent registered a 30-point period until New Orleans scored 33 in the third quarter of the Mavericks' 10th game on Nov. 17, 2010.

TURNING POINT: After Jason Kidd drained a 3-pointer with 6:28 left in the second quarter to pull Dallas within 47-41, Denver scored 20 unanswered points until Nowitzki converted a technical free throw with 44.9 seconds remaining. Lawson scored nine of his 21 first-half points in that run, during which the Mavericks missed eight straight shots and committed six of their 20 turnovers.

QUOTABLE II: "We've got to rebuild trust defensively. We've lost some. We've lost a lot. I've got to do a better job coaching these guys, simple as that."
-- Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle.

HOT: Denver point guards Lawson and Andre Miller were a combined 16-for-23 from the field (5-for-8 from 3-point distance) and 8-for-8 at the line with nine assists, nine rebounds and six steals. Miller scored 18 points.

NOT: The Mavericks trailed by as many as 35 points (78-43) in Sunday's 105-94 loss to the Heat. They fell behind by 33 points (95-62) against the Nuggets.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Mavericks forward Lamar Odom shot 1-for-10 from the field (0-for-5 from long range) and finished with six points and seven rebounds. He's just 2-for-16 through two games. Al Harrington (18 points), Danilo Gallinari (15) and Arron Afflalo (11, all in the second half) also scored in double figures for Denver.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Just one day after the Mavericks raised the first championship banner in the franchise's 31-year history, fans at the American Airlines Center started booing the defending champs in the second quarter.

ROOKIE WATCH: Forward Kenneth Faried, Denver's first-round pick (No. 22 overall), was inactive. "Being on the road ... first-game jitters," Karl said. Last season at Morehead State, Faried passed Tim Duncan to become the NCAA Division I modern-era (post-1973) career rebounding leader.

NOTABLE: The Mavericks have 21 more back-to-backs on the schedule, but only one more of the home-home variety (Jan. 13-14 vs. Milwaukee and Sacramento). ... The last time Dallas started 0-2 was in 2006-07 (0-4). ... Mavs forward Sean Williams, playing in his first NBA game in nearly two years (Jan. 6, 2010 with the Nets), tossed in 12 points off the bench on 4-for-4 shooting before tossing his cookies on the sidelines. ... Eight players grabbed at least four rebounds for Denver, which won the battle of the boards 47-37. ... The Nuggets have won six of their last eight regular-season games played in Dallas.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Thursday @ Oklahoma City, Friday vs. Toronto, Sunday @ Minnesota. For the Nuggets, Wednesday vs. Utah, Thursday @ Portland, Saturday @ Los Angeles Lakers.

• Nuggets: Hamilton, Stone
• Mavericks: Wright

• Nuggets: Fernandez
• Mavericks: Terry

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #16 David Guthrie, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 20408
• Duration: 2:13