Inside Report: Practice Report — Chandler practices, Mavs return home to prep for streaking Nuggets

Earl K. Sneed reports from the Mavericks' Tuesday practice, as the team returned from its longest road trip of the season looking to end a three-game losing streak against the red-hot Nuggets.

DALLAS — Despite their three-game losing streak, the Dallas Mavericks are not down and out.

Coming off a 3-3 record in the season’s longest road trip, the Mavericks (53-24) returned to Dallas a travel-weary bunch. But instead of soaking in sorrow, the team immediately got back to work on the practice court at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday, looking to fix everything that caused three straight defeats before the red-hot Denver Nuggets come to town on Wednesday night.

“Boy, are we happy to be back home, I can tell you that,” sixth man Jason Terry empathically said after the practice session. “Man, long road trip, but 3-3 on the trip. A little disappointed, you know. We got off to a great start and then we just ran out of gas at the end. But we’re back home now, good day of work today, and we’ve got Denver coming in tomorrow, which is a hot team. They’re even hotter to me than the Lakers, so it’s gonna be a tough game for us. But we’re ready, we’re at home and we’re ready to go.”

“It was a lot of games, a lot of travel, so hopefully we can get some home cooking,” leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki added.

Fortunately for the Mavericks’ sake starting center Tyson Chandler could return to the court Wednesday night after making it through the team’s full practice. Chandler missed Dallas’ 104-96 loss in Portland on Sunday after suffering a lower back contusion the night before in a 99-92 defeat to Golden State.

And after watching helplessly while his team stumbled, Chandler says that he hopes to be able to make his return from the one-game absence against a Denver team that is 15-4 since trading All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony to New York.

“It’s better. Still a little sore, obviously, but it’s better than it was the last couple of days,” Chandler said of the back injury. “I’m feeling like I will [be able to play]. We’ve got to see how it is tomorrow morning. Today I was able to practice, but not at 100 percent. But I was able to get out there, so I feel like I will.”

With the well-balanced Nuggets (47-29) — winners of six straight — leading the season series 2-1 and entering Big D as one of the NBA’s hottest squads, featuring a new-found defensive intensity and a well-rounded scoring attack, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle admits that his team will have a daunting task ahead as it begins a three-game homestand. But the coach confesses that with Wednesday night just the start of four of the final five games of the regular season at home, it will be important to bring an end to the recent skid, especially with the playoffs rapidly approaching.

And according to Carlisle, that begins with improved play on the defensive end.

“Well, we definitely feel like it’s our responsibility to get our fans into the game,” Carlisle explained. “You do that with persistence and scrappiness. The more we can get after a team defensively with intensity and playing out of our defensive system, the more we can get into transition and into a flow game, which is our strength. That’s gonna be our focus, and when we have to execute we’ll do that as well. And we’ll continue to work on that.

“Look, defense is work. It’s work every day. Anything you do in life you have to work to continue to get better at it. And you’re gonna have a bad half once in awhile,” the coach said, referencing Portland’s 61-percent shooting first half on Sunday. “We’ve gotta get out of the habit of having an occasional bad half. In the playoffs, it can cost you a game, it can cost you home court, it can cost you a series. You know, we’re a veteran team. I think our guys understand that. So, really, attention to detail defensively is a very big thing for us.”

Note: The fourth Nuggets-Mavericks matchup of the season has been moved up and will now tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

Single-game tickets for the first two Mavs home games of the First Round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs are now on sale. Fans that purchase single-game tickets will receive a commemorative 2011 Mavs Playoff ticket*, which will allow the fans to experience augmented reality, a new technology that will bring the ticket to life with animated Mavs players including Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry. Game day and commemorative tickets will go live when the 2011 Playoffs begin.

Tickets will be available online at mavs.com, via phone (214-747-6287 or 1-800-4NBA-TIX) and the American Airlines Center® North Box Office**. Ticket prices start at $15 and up and there is an eight ticket limit per game. Tickets are also sold at all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Simon Mall in Garland and Shops at Willow Bend).

Fans that purchase single game tickets at the American Airlines Center® North Box Office will receive their commemorative ticket at that time. For those purchasing online or at a Ticketmaster outlet, commemorative tickets will be available to pick up at the American Airlines Center® North Box Office or on Playoff game nights at the Mavs ticket sales table on the main concourse near the North Box Office. Augmented Reality is available only on Android phones. For more information, go to http://www.nba.com/mavericks/ar/ar.html.

Individual game tickets are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the American Airlines Center box office, on Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287). Get in on the action and be there for all the thrills!

Fans can visit Mavs.com or call 214.747.MAVS for more information and a complete listing of regular-season home games.