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Mavs need to still play hard IMO. Go down swinging instead of quitting.
Denver at Dallas Preview
Game info: 9:30 pm EDT Mon May 11, 2009
TV: TNT
By Jaime Aron
Still grumpy about how Game 3 finished, and groggy from the practically sleepless night that followed, the Dallas Mavericks got together Sunday to watch some film.
Guess what clip coach Rick Carlisle didn’t show?
Hint: It’s one the league isn’t proud of, either.
As much as they don’t want to see the play, it’s one they’ll all remember: Antoine Wright bumping Carmelo Anthony in an obvious attempt to draw a foul, then bumping him again, yet failing to get rung up either time at the end of a game during which the officials had no trouble blowing their whistles. Anthony wound up swishing a 3-pointer with 1 second left, taking the Denver Nuggets from two points down to one point ahead and a commanding 3-0 lead in this second-round series.
“We’re not going to get that last play back, so just by watching it doesn’t do us any good,” Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki said.
Nowitzki and his teammates admittedly had trouble letting go of what happened. The difference in being down 2-1 and 3-0 is a big part of it, but so is the fact that two hours after the game ended NBA president Joel Litvin essentially said, “Oops,” acknowledging that a foul should’ve been called.
“If I was the league, I wouldn’t say that,” Nowitzki said. “I don’t think it makes anybody feel better. We don’t get the last seven seconds back to kind of play it over again. More than anything, I think it made it worse.”
NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Sunday that the league was still reviewing the postgame scene on the court, when Dallas’ Josh Howard and team owner Mark Cuban were among those visibly upset.
The Mavericks are in enough trouble already. No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 deficit and they’re unlikely to be the first considering they’re also 0-7 against the Nuggets this season. Denver also is the only team to win in Dallas since mid-February and the Nuggets have done it twice.
So perhaps the question going into Game 4 on Monday night isn’t whether Denver will be headed to the conference finals for the first time since 1985, but “When?”
Although the Nuggets have seen their margin of victory dip from 14 points to 12 to one, the key, of course, is that they’re still winning.
In fact, knowing that Dallas has gotten closer each game should help keep Denver players from taking anything for granted.
“We’re going to be aggressive and we’re going to fight extremely hard,” said Chauncey Billups, the veteran point guard who is likely doing all he can to remind his younger teammates that this series isn’t over. “They’re facing elimination. That’s always the toughest game to win, especially in a sweep situation. They’re going to fight really hard and do everything they can possibly do to keep their season alive.”
With the non-call still a hot topic, Billups brought up a point that could get overlooked: “People fail to realize that you still have to make a tough shot. It was an unbelievable shot that Melo hit. So no matter what happens, that was an unbelievable shot.”
Denver coach George Karl said he would not have gone for a foul in that situation.
“It’s a very difficult play for the defender to make,” he said. “You don’t know how hard to hit him. You don’t know if the shooter is going to go up and take a 3. If we are going to take the foul, we definitely tell the referees. We try to tell all three of the referees. And then usually the defense is front of us at the end of the game, we yell “foul, foul, foul.”
The Mavericks spent Sunday still crying foul, all right. But Nowitzki vowed that by a shootaround Monday morning “everybody’s spirits are going to be up.”
It’s worth noting that Dallas has never been swept in a four-game series. And, this season, the Mavs have bounced back every time they’ve been counted out.
“These guys have met adversity with unity, with a collective will,” Carlisle said. “It happened in November; we got off to a 2-7 start. It happened in January; we lost four games in a row and everybody said we wouldn’t be a playoff team. It happened after we lost to Oklahoma City … and it’s obviously going to happen now. But, hey, that’s what this is about. When it gets tough, you’ve got to stick together and keep fighting.”
Notes
Nuggets:
April 22 G Chauncey Billups' previous playoff high for threes was seven at Orlando in 2003, and his regular season high was also seven, which he accomplished three times, the last on Jan. 11, 2004, against Dallas. ... C Nene briefly left the game after getting poked in his left eye by Devin Brown late in the third quarter. ... Grammy-award winning rapper Lil Wayne, a native of New Orleans, had a front-row seat.
Mavs:
G Jason Terry finished with 16 points for Dallas, which suffered one of the worst losses in the playoff rivalry. ... Dallas failed to send the Spurs to consecutive home playoff losses for the first time since 2002.
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Carmelo Anthony Den 22.8
Dirk Nowitzki Dal 25.9
Rebounds
Nene Hilario Den 7.8
Dirk Nowitzki Dal 8.4
Assists
Chauncey Billups Den 6.4
Jason Kidd Dal 8.7
Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Denver 54-28 1st Northwest / 2nd West 104.3 100.9 Road 21-20 Lost 1 8-2
Dallas 50-32 3rd Southwest / 6th West 101.7 99.8 Home 32-9 Won 2 7-3
Mavs need to still play hard IMO. Go down swinging instead of quitting.
The Mavs will win Game 4...then get blown the out in Game 5.
Denver Nuggets at Dallas Mavericks: Game 4 preview
By Eddie Sefco / The Dallas Morning News
Scouting the Nuggets
They have moved ahead, 3-0, in the series by winning with diversity. Center Nene was huge in Games 1 and 2. Chauncey Billups roared into the series in Game 3. Different members of the bench have clicked on different nights. ... The one constant has been Carmelo Anthony, the hero of Game 3 with a 3-pointer to win it. He's averaged 26.3 points in the series. Of Anthony's 79 points in the series, 36 have come in the fourth quarter. ... The Denver bench was 6-of-21 from the field in Game 3.
Scouting the Mavericks
They have never been swept in a best-of-7 series. ... Dirk Nowitzki hasn't been distracted by the Nuggets' defense or anything else, averaging 32 points and 11.7 rebounds in the series. ... The Mavericks were great in close games all season, going 18-5 in games decided by five points or less. But after the one-point loss in Game 3, they are 0-4 in close games against the Nuggets this season. ... Josh Howard's series continues to be troublesome. His ankles hindered him in the first two games and foul trouble slowed him in Game 3, when he hit five of 15 shots.
Referee Assignments
Mon. May 11
Denver @ Dallas: S. Javie, M. Davis, J. DeRosa
Mavs in 7
refs with the makeup. martin looks to fight tonight
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