Denver played its biggest game of the season Thursday. Now, it's Saturday's game. The Nuggets (44-28), who defeated Dallas 118-105 Thursday, trail Golden State (44-27) by a half game for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, and face the Warriors on Saturday at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets, who also play at Golden State on April 10, need to win one of two remaining meetings with the Warriors to clinch a possible playoff tiebreaker. The series is tied 1-1, but Denver would have a better conference mark if the series is tied 2-2 and the teams have the same record.
But even a victory Saturday would give the Nuggets no time to relax. They play at Phoenix on Monday and host the Suns on Tuesday.
With all games so critical, Nuggets coach George Karl has likened it to an NCAA tournament-type situation.
NUGGETS 118, MAVERICKS 105: The Nuggets much preferred Thursday to talk about their second half rather than their first. They blitzed the Mavericks 58-35 at the Pepsi Center in what might have been their best 24 minutes of the season.
Making it even better, with 1:17 left in the game, Nuggets forward Nene strolled to the scorer's table while the fans stood and cheered wildly. Nene, recovering from testicular cancer surgery, played the rest of the game in his first action since Jan. 7.
Nene never touched the ball, but that was fine with him. The heavy lifting had been done by forward Carmelo Anthony, who scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and guard Allen Iverson, who scored 31.
"It was a big win for us," said Anthony. "It was a playoff atmosphere type of game, a must win for us. We came out in the second half and took care of business."
The Nuggets (44-28) still trail Golden State (44-27) by a half-game for the West's eighth and final playoff spot. But they moved within one game of the suddenly very worried Mavericks (45-27) and won the season series 2-1, critical if the teams tie for playoff position.
"We might have had better halves against teams not so talented," said Iverson, who then took into account Dallas isn't exactly Seattle and pronounced the second half most likely Denver's best of the season.
