Mavericks at Nuggets
The Dallas Mavericks know they will be the No. 7 seed in the Western
Conference but certainly aren’t mailing in the rest of the regular
season. Dallas enters Friday’s road game against the Denver Nuggets
knowing it must step up its play if it wants to avoid a quick playoff
exit.
“I do feel like we have something to play for,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “We’re playing to play better.” Dallas lost six of eight games before Wednesday’s 107-104 win over the Phoenix Suns and needs to win three of its final four games to reach 50 wins. Denver is in a different position and needs to win each of its final four games to avoid its first 50-loss season since the 2002-03 campaign. Power forward Kenneth Faried (29 points) and small forward Danilo Gallinari (27 points) both had big games as the Nuggets registered a 119-101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (47-31): Dallas has never fully meshed since point guard Rajon Rondo joined the team, and the recent struggles have only magnified the chemistry issues. Rondo is aware of the chatter and thinks developing more rhythm will go a long way toward solving the matter. “Just a little bit of momentum, some consistency,” Rondo told reporters. “Obviously, everybody’s not going to play every game, but if we can get a little bit of momentum going into the playoffs, that would be great for our team.”
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (29-49): Faried has stepped up his game since interim coach Melvin Hunt replaced Brian Shaw and the effort against the Lakers was one of his top performances of the seasons. He scored a season-best 29 points – 14 coming in the third quarter – and grabbed 11 rebounds and was full of energy throughout the victory. “I played well, yeah, but we got the ‘W,’” Faried told reporters. “That’s what’s more important. We played hard but I was happy with our defense. We locked down and we were able to stop them.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks have lost their last four visits to Denver.
2. Nuggets PG Jameer Nelson (hip flexor) could sit out for the second consecutive contest.
3. Dallas SF Chandler Parsons (knee) will likely miss his third straight game.