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 Health was an issue, but for a Denver Nuggets team that lost just
three home games all of last season, dropping five in a row on their
own court was wearing on the players and coaches no matter what the
reason.
"It's been a long time," Denver coach Brian Shaw said.
The wait is over. Using a high-scoring first quarter, the Nuggets
raced out to a 19-point lead in the first half before holding on to
beat the Dallas Mavericks 115-110 Wednesday night.
Forward Wilson Chandler scored 21 points, and guard Ty Lawson had 20
for Denver, which ended a six-game skid with its first home win
since Feb. 5.
"It feels great, especially for the fans," Lawson said. "We owed
them better than what we've been giving them for the last six or
seven games, maybe longer than that."
Denver's last home win came exactly a month ago against the
Milwaukee Bucks. In between, the Nuggets couldn't find the magic
that led to a franchise-best 38 home wins last season.
Overall, the Nuggets lost six in a row and 11 of 12 before they
topped the Mavericks.
Forward J.J. Hickson had 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter,
and he also tied a career high with five blocks.
Forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 for the Mavericks, who lost their
third game in a row.
The Mavericks (36-26) are trying to hold onto one of the last two
playoff spots in the Western Conference, and the recent slide isn't
helping their cause. They are now tied for eighth in the conference,
one game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, who lost to the Nets in
Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The schedule isn't kind. Dallas heads home to play the Portland
Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers before traveling to face the Golden
State Warriors.
"It's not going to get easier," Mavericks forward Brandan Wright
said. "We've got to take care of these home games, two tough
opponents. We've got to keep trucking with it and see what happens."
Nowitzki did his best to carry Dallas on Wednesday. After a quiet 10
points in the first half, he scored 11 in the first five minutes of
the third. Dallas turned on its defense, holding Denver to 11 points
in the third to cut the deficit to 79-73 heading into the fourth.
Denver (26-34) missed 22 of 26 shots in the period after shooting 54
percent in the first half.
Lawson, Denver's catalyst, injured his left heel in the third
quarter. He had a slight limp as he came out of the game with 2:26
left, but he returned midway through the fourth quarter.
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"It scared me a little bit," said Lawson, who returned to action
Monday after missing nine games with a fractured rib. "I came to a
stop on a dime, and when I pulled up, I didn't step it like I
normally would, and I probably just tweaked something. A little bit
of pain. I couldn't run or push off it for a little bit, but they
gave me a heel pad, and I was fine the rest of the game."
The Nuggets found their stroke in the fourth without him. Chandler
scored five quick points to spur a 16-2 run at the start of the
period, making it 95-75 with 7:40 remaining.
Dallas made one last push, closing within 113-107 with 30 seconds
left.
"I've been saying all along that if we don't play hard, we'll get
torched by anybody," Nowitzki said. "We just didn't come out the
right way, we didn't set the tone, and they took advantage of it. If
we compete a little harder in the first quarter and don't go down
(19) in the first half, I think we would have had a shot."
The Nuggets' 41 points in the first quarter gave them back-to-back
40-point periods. They had 45 in the fourth quarter Monday against
the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"I take full responsibility for this loss because at the beginning
of the game we weren't into it," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.
"It was my mistake. I should have substituted all the guys out of
the game that were in there and gave up 12 points in 3 1/2 minutes.
Not doing that was a major mistake."
Even with the hot offense, the Nuggets only led 48-40 early in the
second quarter. They then reeled off 11 straight points to take a
59-40 lead, their biggest of the first half. Denver led 68-51 at
intermission.
NOTES: Mavericks F Wayne Ellington was excused from the team for
personal reasons. Coach Rick Carlisle said he did not know if
Ellington's absence would last more than one game. F Jae Crowder was
moved into the bench rotation in place of Ellington, and he scored
eight points in 16 minutes. ... The Nuggets last lost 11 of 12 in
January 2005, just prior to the hiring of coach George Karl. The
team went 32-8 the rest of the way to finish 49-33. ... Dallas,
which came into Wednesday averaging 11.7 turnovers in its previous
14 games, had no turnovers in the first quarter against Denver.
However, the Mavericks wound up giving the ball away 15 times. ...
The Nuggets won the first two games of the season series when the
teams played a home-and-home in November.
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