Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/281/story/1360113.html
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Dirk's heroics aren't enough to save Mavericks against Nuggets
Posted on Wed, May. 06, 2009 / By Jim Reeves
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DENVER -- Dirk Nowitzki may be Superman, but not even he can stop the
speeding train known as the Denver Nuggets all by himself.
But then, Nuggets’ coach George Karl had already figured that out, hadn’t
he.
The question is whether or not the rest of the Dallas Mavericks will. At this
point, it may well be too late anyway.
Karl’s strategy of letting Dirk roam under single coverage, of allowing him
to do whatever damage he can, continued to pay off Tuesday night. Despite
Nowitzki’s inspired 35-point performance, the Nuggets again pulled away in
the fourth quarter for a 117-105 victory at the Pepsi Center.
That gives Denver a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is scheduled
at the AAC back in Dallas Saturday night and the Mavericks face the daunting
prospect of having to beat the Nuggets, who have won six of seven playoff
games, four out of the next five to advance to the second round.
I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Dirk’s cape just isn’t big enough to carry the
entire Mavs’ team, as much as he might like to do it.
“He’s a marvelous player,” Karl said of Nowitzki. “It seemed like they
took him down in the low block a little bit more to try to get the whistle a
bit more. I thought in the fourth quarter we got a little control of him.
“I’m not saying he was fatigued. I don’t know that he was tired. He’s an
incredibly gifted offensive player.”
But Karl knew that going in and elected to reject the strategy most teams
employ on Dirk. He’s rarely seeing double-teams. Instead, Nowitzki is
getting a steady diet of the Nuggets’ three big men coming at him in waves.
“ He’s going to see Kenyon (Martin), Melo (Carmelo Anthony) and Chris
(Andersen),” Karl promised. “I don’t think you’re going to see us double
him. The tapes we have, he kills the double teams.”
In other words, Karl is daring the rest of the Mavs to step up and beat the
Nuggets if they can. No one in a Dallas uniform has yet to meet that
challenge.
Oh, Jason Terry pitched in 21 points in a supporting role after a lackluster
15 in Game 1, but other than 10 points from Antoine Wright, who started in
place of J.J. Barea, no other Maverick reached double figures.
With Josh Howard departing in the second quarter, never to return after
tweaking his right ankle again, the Mavs were missing a key offensive
contributor and it showed.
“We needed him in the second half, his ability to slash and get to the
basket, to score for us,” Nowitzki said. “We had to play the small lineup a
bunch with J.J. (Barea), Jet and (Jason) Kidd, but (the Nuggets) are so big
and athletic, they had mismatches all over the place.
“In the fourth quarter, we just didn’t have anything left in the tank. If we
’d had Josh in there, he could have taken some of the pressure off myself
and Jet scoring-wise.”
For the second straight game, the Nuggets turned on the after-burners once
the fourth quarter arrived and left the Mavs in their dust. This time it was
a 16-2 run that effectively buried the Mavs before they knew what hit them.
The Mavs trailed 86-83 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and it was
still anyone’s game. Five and a half minutes later, it was 100-85 Nuggets.
“We were right there again, like we were the other night, but things can
just get out of hand quick,” Nowitzki said. “They’re just so explosive.
“We had two or three costly turnovers and made a couple of bad shots when
they made their run and suddenly we’re down 14. That’s how explosive that
team is.”
The Nuggets seem to have this playoff blowout thing down pat and they own the
fourth quarter.
“I thought for close to three quarters Dallas was the better basketball team
tonight,” Karl said. “But for some reason, we seem to get tough in the
fourth and we seem to make threes in the fourth.”
It’s something the Nuggets have come to expect. All six of their playoff
wins have been double-digit victories.
“We’re just an explosive team in that way,” point guard Chauncey Billups
said. “The game can be close but when we make a run, we tend to maximize the
run. We could have had some bigger runs but Rick (Carlisle) does a good job
of calling timeouts.”
It was a Kidd turnover late in the third quarter that the Nuggets pointed to
as the turning point in the game. Kidd drove inside, passed up what looked
like an easy floater, and tried instead to pass outside for Terry. It was a
bad pass and the ball zipped back over the half-court line.
Terry looked like he could have touched it for an over-and-back, allowing the
Mavs to at least set their defense, but Billups raced to pick up the loose
ball and then whipped it inside to J.R. Smith for an uncontested layup and a
77-76 Nuggets’ lead.
“That play, in a strange kind of way, kind of turned the game around,”
Billups said. “It told us that was the kind of game it was going to be. I
thought we wore them down a little bit.
“I’m not too worried about what they’re doing. I’m worried us being
aggressive in the fourth quarter, attacking the basket, getting into the
bonus in the first three or four minutes. That’s what I’m thinking about,
not why they’re falling apart.”
That’s was a recurring theme in the fourth quarters of both games. The
Nuggets picked up their intensity and the Mavs crumbled. Maybe it’s the
altitude. Or maybe the Nuggets are just playing harder, like Karl claims.
“They just make you work,” Dirk said. “I had to work hard for every point
I got. They get you so quick with their ability to run and shoot the ball
They have so many weapons out there.”
Funny, I can remember when we used to say that about the Mavs.
Right now, all they seem to have is Superman. He’s obviously giving it all
he has.
It’s the rest of the Mavs who seem to be succumbing to the Nuggets’
fourth-quarter kryptonite.
Karl is betting that Dirk can’t win this by himself. It’s looking more and
more like he’s right.
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