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Mavs subdued using novel approach

Second-half run closes book on big win; Nene returns

By Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 27, 2008 at 8:44 p.m.
Updated March 28, 2008 at 1:13 a.m.

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Nene receives a hug from Kenyon Martin after entering the game Thursday night. It was the first time Nene played since he underwent testicular surgery in January.

Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Nene receives a hug from Kenyon Martin after entering the game Thursday night. It was the first time Nene played since he underwent testicular surgery in January.

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson drives against Mavericks guard Jason Kidd during the first half. Iverson finished with 31 points.

Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson drives against Mavericks guard Jason Kidd during the first half. Iverson finished with 31 points.

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Dallas coach Avery Johnson called it "a tale of two halves." If one throws Charles Dickens into the mix, the first half for the Nuggets was Hard Times and the second Great Expectations.

Because the Nuggets much preferred to talk about their second half Thursday night at the Pepsi Center, let's get right to it.

In a crucial 118-105 win, the Nuggets blitzed the Mavericks 58-35 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, who scored his 9,000th career NBA point, the second- youngest player to do so after LeBron James. "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 one-half game for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. But they moved one game behind 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.

That it included Nene on the court made it even better.

"All I could think in my mind was 'God was good,' " Iverson said. "He's a teammate, somebody, obviously, we care about. But life is so much bigger than basketball."

After going through his first full practice Wednesday since being granted a medical leave Jan. 11, Nene was pronounced ready to play.

Nuggets coach George Karl had hoped to get him a five- minute stint in the second quarter, but that was scrapped when the Mavericks took a 15-point lead.

Once the Nuggets had made their big second-half run, Karl looked down the bench at Nene.

"George Karl says, 'Do you want to go in?' " recalled Nene, who said he was nervous. "I have no answer. They had to push me. The crowd went crazy. I said, 'Let's do it.' "

When Nene arrived at the scorer's table, it was hard to find any of the 18,247 fans not on their feet.

One held a sign that read, "Victory for #31."

"It's a special moment in my life," Nene said. "All of the love the fans give me, I'm going to put in my heart. Not only the fans. The Nuggets, my family, the other team's players. I appreciate God for giving me this opportunity. He gave me strength for this victory."

Karl, a cancer survivor, might have gotten emotional had he not been coaching.

"If I wasn't here, I would have cried," Karl said. "It's worthy of tears to see him come back. He's a hell of a person."

Karl said it would have been "unfair to try to throw him into the game" when the Nuggets were down big in the second quarter. But they were able to get to 70-60 after a first half in which Dallas shot 59.6 percent.

In the second half, Denver's defense came to life, holding Dallas to 38.2 percent shooting. After trailing 72-60, the Nuggets closed the game with a 58-35 sprint.

Dallas played its second game without Dirk Nowitzki, out with knee and ankle injuries. It caught up to the frustrated Mavericks.

"I am the only coach in the league who can say one word and get a technical, and it wasn't even a bad word," Avery Johnson said of getting one with 3:17 left in the third quarter.

Forward Josh Howard, who led Dallas with 30 points, also got one then.

Anthony hit four straight free throws, two after being fouled, and the Nuggets took an 86-81 lead and cruised the rest of the night.

When it was over, the Nuggets had another reason to be happy. Today's practice was canceled.

"We got 31 assists," said forward Linas Kleiza, a reminder that 30 or more earns a day off.

It was a big night for the number 31.

Nuggets 118, Mavericks 105

FG FT Reb

DALLAS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

JoHoward 43:01 12-24 5-8 0-5 2 3 30

Allen 27:57 3-4 0-0 3-4 2 6 6

Dampier 30:52 2-5 1-2 4-9 0 3 5

Kidd 41:41 6-11 4-5 0-4 15 1 19

Stackhouse 30:47 8-15 1-3 3-8 6 2 18

Terry 27:52 5-12 3-4 0-0 3 1 14

Bass 10:30 0-1 0-0 1-4 0 1 0

JuHoward 11:43 2-3 2-3 1-2 1 2 6

Wright 9:39 3-3 1-1 1-3 1 2 7

Lue 4:03 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Jones 1:55 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 240 41-81 17-26 13-39 30 23 105

Percentages - FG .506, FT .654. Three-point goals - 6-23, .261 (Kidd 3-5, Jo. Howard 1-5, Stackhouse 1-5, Terry 1-7, Jones 0-1). Team rebounds - 10. Team turnovers - 17 (23 pts.). Blocked shots - 1 (Dampier). Turnovers - 17 (Kidd 6, Allen 5, Stackhouse 3, Jo. Howard 2, Dampier). Steals - 8 (Kidd 5, Terry 2, Stackhouse). Technicals - Defensive three second, 4:00 second; defensive three second, 7:24 third; coach Johnson, 3:17 third; Howard, 3:17 third.

FG FT Reb

DENVER Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Anthony 36:44 11-20 10-14 3-10 8 4 32

Martin 36:10 4-10 0-0 3-6 1 4 8

Camby 35:59 5-8 3-4 2-6 7 3 13

Carter 22:57 3-8 0-0 2-4 3 2 7

Iverson 44:04 11-21 6-6 0-3 5 1 31

Smith 26:36 5-11 2-2 1-4 5 2 13

Najera 18:57 2-5 2-2 2-3 2 3 7

Kleiza 15:40 2-5 2-2 3-5 0 2 7

Nene 1:17 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Atkins 1:17 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Diawara 0:20 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 240:01 43-88 25-30 16-41 31 21 118

Percentages - FG .489, FT .833. Three-point goals - 7-19, .368 (Iverson 3-3, Kleiza 1-2, Carter 1-3, Najera 1-3, Smith 1-5, Camby 0-1, Anthony 0-2). Team rebounds - 9. Team turnovers - 9 (14 pts.). Blocked shots - 3 (Camby, Carter, Najera). Turnovers - 9 (Anthony 3, Iverson 2, Martin 2, Camby, Smith). Steals - 8 (Carter 3, Anthony 2, Camby, Iverson, Smith). Technicals - Defensive three second, 5:12 first.

Dallas 39 31 16 19 - 105

Denver 28 32 34 24 - 118

A - 18,247 (19,155). T - 2:28. Officials - Greg Willard, Bill Kennedy, Tony Brown.

NUMBERS GAME

258 pounds was Nene's weight when he played his first game in 21/2 months Thursday after surgery for testicular cancer. That's only 3 pounds less than when he had last played in a game.

NENE NOT WORRIED

The rotation might be set and Nuggets coach George Karl might be playing each game as if it were the playoffs. But Nene is not worried about how he'll be integrated back into the lineup.

"I don't care about that," Nene said after the 118-105 win against Dallas. "I just want to do what I can do and get back in condition."

Karl called it a "double-edged sword." He said reintegrating Nene is "75 percent good and 25 percent bad."

Karl said Nene's minutes sometimes will depend on the opponent, and he trusts Nene's judgment.

"He's going to look at me, talk to (strength and conditioning coach Steve Hess and athletic trainer Jim Gillen) and kind of see what he can give us," Karl said. "If he needs to take a day off, take a day off. If he can play 15 minutes, we'll try to get him 15 minutes."

TIEBREAKER TIME

The Nuggets secured one tiebreaker. They can get another Saturday at home against Golden State, another team they're battling for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.

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.

Chris Tomasson

Comments

  • March 28, 2008

    11:36 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    MGD writes:

    The Nuggets defense was the best I've seen from them this year. Well, I mean in the second half. The first half was the same old story. Good to see Nene back out there.

  • March 28, 2008

    12:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    musicman80 writes:

    MGD, you don't sound too bright and positive. The Nuggets are bomb dizzle and you need to understand that it's more than just a team and games. Go to church, cause you sound scurrrrrred. lol

  • March 28, 2008

    12:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    2dapoint writes:

    Yea nuggets are starting to pick up the pace but the infamous choke artists seem to run out of gas when it really counts... um j.r smith is the hottest thing going. He used to be a secret weapon,now the secrets out! Karl should start smith,get him hot and watch him dominate. Melo stop crying, a.I stop being so dramatic. The winner for best attempt to draw a foul by falling on the floor goes to iverson best supporting actor goes to melo for his role in " come on ref that's a foul"

  • March 28, 2008

    12:45 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    2dapoint writes:

    The thing is the nuggs need to play as a team...hell they party as a team now move that enthusiasm over to the court and there u have it , a championship team . There aint no I in team and my my my was a johnny gill song from the early 90's come on guys!

  • March 28, 2008

    1:51 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Cwillyrun1 writes:

    If A.I. and Melo were crying too much for you, 2dapoint, then don't watch them. I thought they had legitimate complaints for the most part, and the refs stunk as usual. I mean, Anthony Carter has a ball go off his elbow and the ref calls it off of his foot, which is 4-5 feet away. Amazing how they can't get the calls right so often.

    If you want real crying, check out the last time the Nuggets played the Spurs at home. Every time the refs called against the Spurs, there were two or three Spurs players whining to the refs. Funny thing is Tim Duncan rarely gets called but he fouls often.

    It's just too hard to miss the refs screwing up, and the Nuggets won last night so it's not sour grapes either.

  • March 28, 2008

    2:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    musicman80 writes:

    "Anthony Carter has a ball go off his elbow and the ref calls it off of his foot, which is 4-5 feet away."

    LOL.. amazing how those refs have nerve to do that which is uncalled for!

  • March 28, 2008

    3:36 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jeremynix writes:

    Maybe we can close out the year with a "Rockies Run" and win the division. The only problem with that is the possibility of facing the Spurs in the first round. I'm SICK of the Spurs! :)

  • March 28, 2008

    4:11 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    kmeissner writes:

    All you so called "fans" that just complain about the Nugs need to stop watching the games... AI and Melo get mugged and don't get fouls. Of course they are going to flop every once in a while to get a call. EVERY PLAYER DOES IT!!!!

    It was good to see Nene back in action. Hopefully we hit the playoffs and he's ready for round 1!

    Cwillyrun1- Good comments. At least SOMEONE notices these things.