Mavericks at Nuggets
THE STORY: The Dallas Mavericks briefly dropped to eighth place in
the Western Conference last week. A three-game winning streak has them
off the bubble for now, but the Mavericks are going to have to find a
way to win on the road. They will try to snap a seven-game road losing
streak at the Denver Nuggets on Monday. The Nuggets will attempt to leap
ahead of Dallas in the West.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (26-20):
Dallas has a brutal schedule coming up, with nine straight against
teams in playoff position. Five of those are on the road, where the
Mavericks have not won since Feb. 17 at Philadelphia. Dallas recovered
at home, grabbing wins over East bottom-feeders Charlotte and Washington
before a 106-99 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. That
win marked the first for the Mavericks over a top-eight team in the West
since a 102-84 home victory over Denver on Feb. 15. Dirk Nowitzki
scored only 12 points in that meeting but has gone for 27 in each of the
last three games.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (25-20): Denver is one-half game behind the
Mavericks, sitting seventh in the West. The Nuggets lead the NBA in
scoring at 103.7 points but give up nearly that many (101.3). They
proved they could get stops when necessary against Boston on Saturday,
holding the Celtics without a field in the final 3:28 of a 97-91
triumph. Denver has traded wins and losses over its last seven games.
The Nuggets are on the verge of getting some reinforcements to an
already deep rotation. They signed Wilson Chandler to a five-year deal
Sunday and JaVale McGee should suit up soon after being acquired at the
Thursday deadline.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Mavericks have not lost eight straight on the road since 1999.
2. Dallas forward Shawn Marion (knee) missed Saturday’s game and is day-to-day.
3.
Denver rookie forward Kenneth Faried grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds
against Boston and was a perfect 5 for 5 from the field and 8 for 8 from
the free throw line.