"I didn't know that," Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said. "That's been a while, man. Hopefully we're the next team to beat them here too."

The Nuggets expect to have to buckle down and pay extreme attention to detail today against a Mavericks team they say is going to come out aggressive.

"I think we're going to have to be more fundamental, I think we're going to have to be more defensive-oriented," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "And I have a feeling we'll make it a fourth-quarter game and we're going to have to make plays to win it."

The Nuggets are 1-1 on the road in the playoffs, with the lone loss being in Game 3 against New Orleans. They bounced back from that with a 58-point win.

"I think the whole thing comes down to we had a Game 3 that I think we'll learn from," Karl said. "Dallas, people forget, was playing very, very well until our two wins. I think they are somewhat confident that they are going to regroup and put the home court on their side."

Billups said the Nuggets , up 2-0 in the series, haven't done anything worth noting yet.

"We've done nothing but win at home," Billups said. "Now we're in a tough environment. Dallas is a great, great home team. So, it's going to be tough but we're looking forward to it. I'm sure they'll play a lot harder, a lot tougher. They have 20,000 rooting for them, any play they make this place is going to go crazy. That in itself gives you more confidence. I think they'll run a little more at home, try to get the crowd involved.

"We want to come out and be aggressive, do the things that we've been doing. We've had to make a couple of adjustments, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that works out."

Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com