 Nuggets 109, Mavs 95Even though Denver's final margin was "only" 14, the Mavs were out-maneuvered, out-quicked, out-muscled, and — especially during the second half — they played like they wished the NBA had a mercy rule.
Monday's games- Magic at Celtics (Tied 0-0)
- Rockets at Lakers (Tied 0-0)
Sunday's games- Hawks 91, Heat 78 (Hawks win 4-3)
- Nuggets 109, Mavs 95 (Nuggets 1-0)
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And from Andersen's first appearance in the game, Nowitzki's points were more gratuitous than critical. Sometimes he's a woodpecker, and sometimes he's a loon, but in Game 1, Andersen was a killer eagle. Flying high near the basket, swooping down from the sky to spear unsuspecting layups, and mercilessly gobbling up rebounds. Along with his 6 blocks, 6 rebounds, and 11 points, Andersen even swished a 17-foot jumper. If it was primarily Andersen who transformed the Mavs' heavenly 24-16 first-quarter lead into a hellish drubbing, Dallas had several quasi- and anti-heroes. Nowitzki's stats — 12-22, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 28 points — firmly place him in the former category. Once Andersen stomped out his fire, Nowitzki's occasional buckets were more cosmetic than meaningful. Jason Kidd hit several early jumpers, mostly because the Nuggets pointedly avoided having their bigs show when he was involved in high screen/rolls — thereby conceding him open looks. J-Kidd also came up with some clever steals, but could only manage four assists to go with his eight turnovers. For sure, some of his passes misfired when his teammates zigged instead of zagged, but the definite word here belongs to Bob Cousy, one of the greatest passers in NBA history. "An incomplete pass," Cousy said, "is always the fault of the passer." Josh Howard had a routine performance — scoring early, getting shut out when the game was up for grabs, and then padding his numbers in garbage time. Jason Terry made an authentically heroic effort to shoot his team back into contention — 6-13 for 15 points — but his four turnovers undermined his production.Among the Mavs' anti-heroes were: J. J. Barea, who was repeatedly abused in the low post by Jones. Brandon Bass, who embarrassed himself with 12 useless minutes. Erick Dampier, who couldn't get close enough to Nene to make him change his mind. Antoine Wright, who had more fouls (5) than points (3). Ryan Hollins, who played like he was made of cotton candy.How can Dallas recover from this wall-to-wall thrashing? Get more belligerent at both ends. Make the Nuggets have to pick themselves up off the floor to make their free throws. Forget about trying to push the ball, and play grind-it-out offense instead. But also be careful to maintain floor balance so the Nuggets can't simply snatch defensive rebounds and then run free. Start Terry instead of Barea to open up their offense from the get-go. Light a fire under Dampier by any means, including challenging his manhood. Instead of running their routine high screen/rolls in hopes of forcing the Nuggets into making favorable switches, Dallas needs to run Nowitzki off of weak-side screens — and also to post him more. His one trip into the pivot resulted in a layup. And since, no matter who was involved, Denver's too-quick defense stifled most of their high S/Rs, Rick Carlisle has to delve deeper into his playbook. Perhaps some kind of passing game, replete with institutionalized back-door cuts, might take the edge off of Denver's successful gambling on defense. If the Mavs can't get stronger physically within the next 48 hours, they at least have to find a way to get stronger mentally. At the same time, the Nuggets can't afford to get overconfident. Otherwise, this could very easily turn into a humdrum series.
Author: Fox Sports
Author's Website: http://www.foxsports.com
Added: May 4, 2009
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