Denver dumps Dallas 109-95, lead 2d round series 1-0

DENVER- NBA Hall of Fame big man Bill Russell once said, "The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot." The Denver Nuggets took that approach today against the Dallas Mavericks and then upped it a notch dismissing 11 Dallas drives and demolishing the Mavericks 106-89 en-route to a defining game 1 win before a frothy Denver crowd at the Pepsi Center. Blinn College alumni and Iola, Texas native Chris "Birdman" Andersen had his own personal block party sending back six Mavs attempts.


Amazingly Dallas managed to stay alive in the contest for three and a half quarters before the wheels came completely off the track in the fourth. After Antoine Wright's 26-foot 3-pointer to beat the shot clock helped the Mavs race back into contention. Jason Terry (15 pts,5 rebs) sank a 3 and Dirk Nowitzki (28 pts, 10 rebs) swished one of his fadeaway jumpers to make the score was 82-80 in the first minute of the quarter. The Nuggets playing in the second round for the first time in ten years pounced and banged back bursting ahead with a 15-4 run that blew the game wide open and Dallas never recovered.

The underdog Mavericks must find their bench and get more production from center Erik Dampier, who was noticeably silent in the paint scoring only three points in 22 forgettable minutes with six rebounds while getting out muscled by Nene who paced the Nuggets with 24 points and 5 assists. Mavericks forward Josh Howard also had a night to forget shooting 7-16 from the field and going 0-4 from the three point arc. The Mavericks now face a must win in game 2 on Tuesday if they are to make the series competitive. Denver is quicker and stronger on the inside so Dallas must rely on their "D" and transition offense if they hope to stop the Nuggets who are healthy and surging looking to advance quickly to the Western Conference Finals.