Recap: Nuggets 84 at Mavericks 102

Earl K. Sneed recaps the Dallas Mavericks' victory Wednesday night over the Denver Nuggets as the defending champions extended their winning streak to five despite injuries in the backcourt.

DALLAS — He had been the Dallas Mavericks’ iron man, playing in 126 straight games coming into Wednesday night. But unfortunately for the Mavericks, reserve guard Jason Terry’s unscathed stretch came to an end with the Denver Nuggets in town.

Scratched from Wednesday night’s contest due to a mild right quad strain, Terry will also miss the team’s road showdown in Philadelphia Friday night due to personal reasons. And with the team also without third-year guard Rodrigue Beabous due to personal reasons, the Mavericks looked to take the season series with the Nuggets after both teams split the first two games with road wins by double figures.

The Mavericks would lose a third key contributor in the backcourt before the night was through. But while moving to 3-0 when at least six players score in double figures after going 16-1 last season in that position, the Mavericks (19-11) collected their fifth straight win overall with a dominant 102-84 victory.

“It’s an important win,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We obviously have some upheaval now with the roster — guys with injuries and personal situations. It’s a bit of a scramble, but we’ve got a good scramble team. We’re gonna just have to piece it together here.”

“We’ve got a deep team here and now everybody’s got to step up and pull their weight,” forward Shawn Marion added on the team’s current injury situation.

Before looking to take the third matchup with the Nuggets, the defending champs presented ex-Maverick Corey Brewer with his championship ring. The team then hit the hardwood with Brewer in the Nuggets’ starting lineup, looking for a fifth straight victory. But without Terry coming off the bench, the Mavericks needed every bit of their 9-1 start by the first unit to open the game with an early advantage. Meanwhile, the Dallas defense forced the Nuggets (17-13) into a 1-of-9 start from the field while big man Lamar Odom came off the bench and provided a spark.

With Marion taking advantage of a favorable defensive matchup with Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson, leaking out after stops for easy scores in transition, the Mavs created some separation on the scoreboard with a lead as large as 12. And with leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki scoring eight points in the opening quarter, the Mavericks headed into the second stanza with a 27-17 lead after taking advantage of an injury-riddled Denver team without big men Nene (strained left calf) and Timofey Mozgov (ankle) on the second night of a back-to-back.

“We knew they got in late last night, so the way we started the game was getting out and running and getting some easy baskets,” point guard Jason Kidd explained.

Brewer’s high-energy play would change the momentum in the second period, however, as he and Rudy Fernandez brought the Nuggets back within an arm’s reach. Already down two men in the backcourt, the Mavs then lost reserve guard Delonte West due to a fractured right ring finger. Still, with back-to-back threes by Vince Carter and Brendan Wright’s above-the-rim finishes, the Mavs regained a double-digit advantage thanks to a 10-0 run.

And after holding the Nuggets to their lowest-scoring first half of the season, the Mavericks headed into the halftime break with a 51-39 margin.

Led by Odom’s 10 points on 5-of-8 from the field to offset Fernandez’s 14 points off the Denver bench, the Mavericks outshot the Nuggets through two quarters, 48.7 percent to 33.3 percent. The Mavs also held the early edge despite a 20-16 disadvantage in points in the paint and 10-2 deficit in second-chance points.

Taking the court in the second half without the services of West, the Mavericks continued to stay at a safe distance. With end-to-end play and persistence on the glass, Marion sparked a 13-1 run. Meanwhile, Kidd’s deadly outside shooting and Odom’s inside-outside game lifted the Mavs to a lead as large as 31 before taking an 83-54 advantage into the game’s last quarter after holding the Nuggets to their fewest points in a period this season.

“We wanted to be aggressive coming out in the third quarter and got good stops and made some shots. J-Kidd got hot and made some threes, so that was good,” Nowitzki said after the Mavericks grabbed the momentum in the third period.

In the game’s final period, Carlisle turned to his reserves while resting his starters with the big lead. And with no problem protecting the huge advantage, the Dallas bench put the finishing touches on the blowout win.

Marion finished the night with a double-double while registering 16 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out a season-high six assists. Carter added 15 points, Kidd recorded a season-high 13 points and Nowitzki pitched in 12 in the starting lineup, while Odom’s 14 points and Wright’s 10 came off the bench.

“We’re just playing the game and playing it the right way,” Marion said. “When it’s like that it’s exciting to watch and it’s fun to be a part of.”

“[Depth] is the strength of our team,” Odom added. “Tonight, it just so happened to be that the depth was in scoring. Everybody kind of felt comfortable and we’re deep in so many different ways.”

And with no Terry, no Beaubois and West sidelined due to injury, Carlisle also went to second-year guard Dominique Jones for a season-high number of minutes at just below 31 as the young pro scored four points and dished out six assists despite 0-for-6 shooting.

“D.J. played great tonight,” Kidd said of his mentee. “He hasn’t played in over a month, and four points in thirty minutes, I thought he did well. He was attacking the basket and making all the right plays.”

“I think this is a big opportunity for me to go out there, maintain and show that we can’t miss a beat,” Jones added. “So, my main thing is just looking at film, looking at different teams and different players and getting better at the things I can get better at so the team can be better.”

Off the Denver bench, Fernandez led five Nuggets in double figures with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Brewer returned to Dallas to score nine points on 3-of-15 from the field. But the Mavericks outshot the Nuggets for the game, 46.3 percent to 35.7 percent, while holding Denver to its lowest field goal percentage of the season. The Mavs also overcame a 49-45 disadvantage in rebounding, a 46-30 separation in points in the paint and 19-8 deficit in second-chance points.

The Mavs, however, did score 21 points off the Nuggets’ 15 turnovers, giving up 16 points on their own 13 giveaways.

Riding a five-game winning streak, the Mavs return to action Friday night when they travel to meet the Philadelphia 76ers to start a two-game road trip. The game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest and nationally on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT.

“Philadelphia is going to be a different kind of team than these guys are — same kind of quickness, but a little bit different style. Their home floor is a very tough place to play. We’re going to have to carry some momentum from tonight into Friday, but that’s going to be a tough game,” Carlisle concluded.

“We’ve got a lot of great opponents coming up, we’ve got four games on national TV, so it’s gonna be a fun four games,” Nowitzki added while looking ahead. “A lot of challenges and we’ve just got to play. But I like where the team is. Unfortunately, we’ve got some injuries and some personal issues, but hopefully we’ll be OK and fight through some of this stuff.”

Note: The Mavs return to the American Airlines Center next Monday night when they host the Boston Celtics. Dallas leads the season series 1-0 after a 90-85 win in Boston on Jan. 11. That game will air nationally on TNT at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.