# Round 2: (2) Denver Nuggets vs (6) Dallas Mavericks



## Tersk

(2) Denver Nuggets [54-28] 







































vs 

(6) Dallas Mavericks [50-32]






































*Schedule
*TBA

*Season Series
*Denver (4-0) Dallas
Dallas @ Denver 105-108
Dallas vs Denver 88-98
Dallas @ Denver 97-99
Dallas vs Denver 101-103​


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## Tersk

Key Mavericks players averages against the Nuggets this year

*Dirk Nowitzki: *30 PPG (44% FG, 33% 3PT), 11.2 RPG, 1 BPG -- 4 games played, 39.5 MPG
*Josh Howard: *9 PPG (25% FG, 50% 3PT), 3.5 RPG, 1.5 APG -- 2 games played, 20.5 MPG
*Jason Terry: *18.8 PPG (39% FG, 35% 3PT), 2.8 RPG, 3.8 APG -- 4 games played, 37 MPG
*Jason Kidd: *9.8 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 7 APG -- 3 games played, 35 MPG

The Mavericks have been outshot 38% to 45% compared to the Nuggets, something that has to change.


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## Ninjatune

Any word on when this series is slated to start? I'm guessing Sunday or Monday....


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## Tersk

I think this is going to be one of the better series of these playoffs, both the Mavs and the Nuggets are playing their most impressive basketball of the season at just the right times. The homer in me says Mavericks in 6, despite Denver taking all 4 season games (which must be looked at with a grain of salt, 3 of those losses were within 3 points and both Howard and Kidd missed a game or two).

I think the Mavericks role players will prove to be invaluable this series; Dirk will step up and play Kenyon Martin well, but Ryan Hollins and JJ Barea need provide a spark to counter JR Smith and Nene. The Nuggets are a fast-paced impressive rebounding team but Carlisle needs the Mavs to play their own game and not get suckered into the other teams system (which was always a problem with Avery).

I think Antoine Wright will be put back into the starting lineup for his defense on Carmello, with a battle of the veteran point guards in Kidd v Billups proving to be very interesting. 

Final thoughts: Denver takes Game 1, Mavs take Games 2 & 3, Denver Game 4 and Dallas Games 5 & 6. Dirk is going to have a huge series and prove some of those playoff doubters wrong, Howard keeps it up but the role players get the Mavericks through.

Player to watch out for: JR Smith, can go off in an instant.


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## Tersk

Ninjatune said:


> Any word on when this series is slated to start? I'm guessing Sunday or Monday....


Game time is Sunday at 2:30 p.m.


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## croco

Mavs Maniac said:


> I think this is going to be one of the better series of these playoffs, both the Mavs and the Nuggets are playing their most impressive basketball of the season at just the right times. The homer in me says Mavericks in 6, despite Denver taking all 4 season games (which must be looked at with a grain of salt, 3 of those losses were within 3 points and both Howard and Kidd missed a game or two).
> 
> I think the Mavericks role players will prove to be invaluable this series; Dirk will step up and play Kenyon Martin well, but Ryan Hollins and JJ Barea need provide a spark to counter JR Smith and Nene. The Nuggets are a fast-paced impressive rebounding team but Carlisle needs the Mavs to play their own game and not get suckered into the other teams system (which was always a problem with Avery).
> 
> I think Antoine Wright will be put back into the starting lineup for his defense on Carmello, with a battle of the veteran point guards in Kidd v Billups proving to be very interesting.
> 
> Final thoughts: Denver takes Game 1, Mavs take Games 2 & 3, Denver Game 4 and Dallas Games 5 & 6. Dirk is going to have a huge series and prove some of those playoff doubters wrong, Howard keeps it up but the role players get the Mavericks through.
> 
> Player to watch out for: JR Smith, can go off in an instant.


I hope you are right, but I just can't get myself to pick the Mavs. That strategy has been working in the first round, guess I'll stick with that...


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## Tersk

Ah yes, but I don't want to predict against the Mavericks - I just can't do it.

Blah, where s everyone? Lets get the activity up in here!


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## t1no

:lol: Where were you during the regular season? Could have done some game threads for us!!!
Match ups and match ups... i think that's it comes down to. I don't want to predict anything till i watch game 1 and see how it plays out.


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## t1no

Mavs Maniac, why is Terry in the starting line up?


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## Ninjatune

Maybe he knows something we don't....


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## Tersk

Egh, I have no idea - wasn't even paying attention. Let me just change that.


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## edwardcyh

Hello world!


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## croco

Game 1 today :yay:


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## Ninjatune

So Denver wins a playoff series for the first time in 15 years, and all of a sudden they are a force to be reckoned with. Am I the only one who see's them being a little over-hyped by everyone outside of Dallas, heck, even a few in Dallas. 

I have NO problem being the underdog anymore. After the last 3 years, we seem to be a bit more comfortable in this role......


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## croco

Ninjatune said:


> So Denver wins a playoff series for the first time in 15 years, and all of a sudden they are a force to be reckoned with. Am I the only one who see's them being a little over-hyped by everyone outside of Dallas, heck, even a few in Dallas.
> 
> I have NO problem being the underdog anymore. After the last 3 years, we seem to be a bit more comfortable in this role......


Maybe a little, although Denver has been playing well in the first round series and before. I have no problem with people considering them favorites, but it should be close.


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## VeN

Ninjatune said:


> So Denver wins a playoff series for the first time in 15 years, and all of a sudden they are a force to be reckoned with. Am I the only one who see's them being a little over-hyped by everyone outside of Dallas, heck, even a few in Dallas.
> 
> I have NO problem being the underdog anymore. After the last 3 years, we seem to be a bit more comfortable in this role......


weve been underdogs the better part of 7 years lol, things are finally back to normal around here


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## xray

That was our best shot at taking one in Denver, imo. 'Melo will probably go off in game two, and those bigs totally out matched Damp and Dirk - and what the &^%* is wrong with Kidd?! 

:whiteflag:


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## VeN

ya really kidd was a turnover MACHINE today....


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## croco

xray said:


> That was our best shot at taking one in Denver, imo. 'Melo will probably go off in game two, and those bigs totally out matched Damp and Dirk - and what the &^%* is wrong with Kidd?!
> 
> :whiteflag:


They outmatched Dirk ? I didn't see that. Dirk was getting mugged all over the place, even Carlisle complained about it which is unusual for a coach to do after one game. Dallas is 1-15 in the playoffs when Danny Crawford is one of the refs, that's a tad extreme. Fortunately he won't be around for Game 2.

Referees aside, if we keep the turnovers down and make some adjustments I like our chances of taking the next game.


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## xray

croco said:


> They outmatched Dirk ? I didn't see that. Dirk was getting mugged all over the place, even Carlisle complained about it which is unusual for a coach to do after one game. Dallas is 1-15 in the playoffs when Danny Crawford is one of the refs, that's a tad extreme. Fortunately he won't be around for Game 2.


They had an answer for Dirk, though (in the physicality dept), and the Mavs had none for Nene and the bird especially - unless they have more bodies on the roster than I'm aware of, they better get busy...




croco said:


> Referees aside, if we keep the turnovers down and make some adjustments I like our chances of taking the next game.


...taking it to those guys on the offensive end. They may get their shots thrown back in their faces a few times, but if the officials see their aggressiveness it will benefit them...enough to tie the series? 

idk.


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## VeN

xray said:


> They had an answer for Dirk, though (in the physicality dept), and the Mavs had none for Nene and the bird especially - unless they have more bodies on the roster than I'm aware of, they better get busy...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...taking it to those guys on the offensive end. They may get their shots thrown back in their faces a few times, but if the officials see their aggressiveness it will benefit them...enough to tie the series?
> 
> idk.


one thing I noticed, bass try to body up anderson on offense, i think it was in the first. he tried to muscle in on him and he didnt back down. after that bass didnt even attempt to do that again. I think its a good matchup and they should exploit it. the mavs got into jumpshot mode, with the vast majority of the points in the paint coming from dirk. we cant win a game like that against a physical team. josh needs to get off the 3 pt line and get to the line. and jet needs more touches. jr smith got his and was reigning fire lol.


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## Ninjatune

IMO, we played one of our worst halfs of basketball and they played one of their worst..... outside of that, the game was very close.


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## t1no

You mean one of their best?
Anderson brought energy and his intensity for Denver and really changed the rhythm of the game and we didn't have anybody to match it.


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## t1no

xray said:


> ...taking it to those guys on the offensive end. They may get their shots thrown back in their faces a few times, but if the officials see their aggressiveness it will benefit them...enough to tie the series?
> 
> idk.


Dirk did a really good job attacking the paint and creating contact in the first half but didn't get any calls. I counted 4 no calls in the first half for Dirk.

Also, we really missed JHo's energy is the second half. He missed most of the third quarter and fourth quarter, i guess his injury is still bothering him.


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## t1no

K-Mart was fined $25,000 for the foul against Dirk.


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## Ninjatune

t1no said:


> You mean one of their best?
> Anderson brought energy and his intensity for Denver and really changed the rhythm of the game and we didn't have anybody to match it.


Yeah, I did..... Guess I'm still flustered about the game. 

Anyways.... when did the "birdman" become such a phenomenal player? /sarcasm


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## t1no

Dirk's post game after game 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ-zswXMN78


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## t1no

Ninjatune said:


> Yeah, I did..... Guess I'm still flustered about the game.
> 
> Anyways.... when did the "birdman" become such a phenomenal player? /sarcasm


You know how it goes... We always make mediocre players look like All-Stars.


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## darth-horax

Dirk is amazing...love to see him on the Nuggets next year. 

IN all honesty, I PRAY the Nuggs can take the next game in Dallas. If you guys can snake that victory, it's a whole new series down there. ON the converse, if the Nuggs win game 3, I really don't see anybody beating Denver 4 games in a row right now.

Sorry to see Josh Howard go down tonight, even though it obviously helps my Nuggets. Nobody likes to win games when key ingredients are missing from their opponents.

That being said, why so much time between games 2 adn 3?

hx


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## croco

darth-horax said:


> Dirk is amazing...love to see him on the Nuggets next year.
> 
> IN all honesty, I PRAY the Nuggs can take the next game in Dallas. If you guys can snake that victory, it's a whole new series down there. ON the converse, if the Nuggs win game 3, I really don't see anybody beating Denver 4 games in a row right now.
> 
> Sorry to see Josh Howard go down tonight, even though it obviously helps my Nuggets. Nobody likes to win games when key ingredients are missing from their opponents.
> 
> That being said, why so much time between games 2 adn 3?
> 
> hx


As I posted in the other thread:



> I love how the injury and absence of Josh Howard is being downplayed, like he is a marginal player who doesn't make a difference. Take Anthony or Billups away from the Nuggets and I'm sure they won't be quite as good either. Josh has played 44 minutes in the two games which is almost the equivalent of a full game, the Mavs have outscored the Nuggets by 2 over that time span. Think about that, this is not a coincidence.
> 
> That doesn't mean Dallas might have won a game for sure, but it's quite obvious that he is the difference between a good team that barely made the playoffs and a potentially dangerous team. He was on his way back to becoming the Josh Howard of a couple of years ago again, a version as valuable as Carmelo Anthony for the Nuggets.


No doubt, the Mavs to win both games at home to have a chance. If we don't, the season is pretty much over.


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## Ninjatune

No joke croco... the TNT announcers barley even alluded to the fact that he was out for the majority of the game last night and wouldn't even bother a freaking injury report. A week ago, Josh was our MVP and the reason we handled the Spurs, now he's just a slightly above-average role player who shouldn't make much of an impact on this series....


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## xray

Start thinking about who you can trade, because this team is going nowhere...


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## Tersk

Egh


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## Ninjatune

You know what, we didn't play the best game, but we deserved to win that one. David Stern should be murdered and the league should undergo some serious therapy. It was less that 3 hours until the NBA admited that it ****ED up the last call..... not that it does us a lot of good. 

The NBA is a complete **** hole and the refs are single handedly determining the outcome of every one fo these series.


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## VeN

/season


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## croco

What else can go wrong ? Because of that crap, the offseason is going to be awfully long once again. If we lose because we deserved to, you can and gotta take that, but to lose like that is disheartening.


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## t1no

We got screwed by the refs again... What else is new?


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## Ninjatune

Life as a Mavericks fan continues as we have become acustomed.....


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## t1no

The refs are bsing us again in game 4. Those flagrant fouls are ridiculous.


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## croco

t1no said:


> The refs are bsing us again in game 4. Those flagrant fouls are ridiculous.


I couldn't watch the game, but reading the game thread it seems like this was almost no different than the previous meetings.


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## t1no

Props to Dirk and JHo.


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## Ninjatune

All together, not that dissapointing of a season, especially considering that we were predicted to miss the playoffs altogether....and the way we started out 2-7. 

We need to make some moves this off-season, but I though Dirk had a hell of a season and cemented himself as a bigtime playoff competitor.... anyone who says differnent is a complete douchebag.


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## croco

It's a better ending to the season than the past three years, but it's still disappointing overall. What's the point of a veteran team that has no shot to win it all ? This team has been together for a long time, changes need to come.


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## t1no

croco said:


> It's a better ending to the season than the past three years, but it's still disappointing overall. What's the point of a veteran team that has no shot to win it all ? This team has been together for a long time, changes need to come.


Well now they know that we can no longer compete with the top teams in the NBA unless we make some changes.


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