DALLAS - Mavericks coach Avery Johnson was a little happier with his team's
defensive effort. Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and 12 rebounds to help the
Mavericks snap a season-long three-game losing streak with a 103-79 victory over
the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Jason Terry scored 21 points and Josh Howard added 20 for the Mavericks, who
had lost five of their previous seven and experienced the first three-game skid
under Johnson. The Mavericks had been competing with Detroit and San Antonio for
the NBA's best record before falling off the pace.
Johnson gave his team an angry dressing down for lax defense following Friday
night's loss at Orlando. Johnson was displeased with his team's defense in all
of the three consecutive road defeats to Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando.
"We thought we were pretty good defensively, for the most part, against one
of the tougher teams in the Western Conference," Johnson said. "We knew we had
to be physical."
The Mavericks responded with better defense as the Nuggets shot 33 percent
from the field in the first quarter while Dallas grabbed a 29-18 lead.
"I think we had a lot more sense of urgency coming out," Nowitzki said. "We
got back to the basics and what we've been doing all season long. We wanted to
stop the bleeding."
Denver finished 29-for-75 from the floor, committed 19 turnovers and was
outrebounded by 42-30.
"We were so bad offensively," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "Defensively
they found all the answers. We simply lost confidence in our offense."
The Nuggets were tentative against a Mavericks defense that included plenty
of zone.
Dallas is 29-1 this season when holding its opponent to below 90 points this
season, 9-0 when limiting the opposition to 80 or less.
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, and Andre Miller and Ruben Patterson
contributed 14 points each for the Nuggets, who had won four of their previous
six.