Nuggets hanging tight with Mavericks, trail 59-58 at half
The two Western conference titans, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks took on each other at the Pepsi Center.
The Mavericks will try for an 11th consecutive victory while the Denver Nuggets will be looking to avoid losing three consecutive at home for the first time in the last four seasons.
Highlight: the 34-year-old Chauncey Billups is carrying the Nuggets
Chauncey Billups strained his left knee in the first half of a 108-103 home loss to the Houston Rockets in the previous match and was sidelined Wednesday, but he is back and once again played a sizzling match for the Nuggets.
Denver guard Billups leads all scorers with 22 points, hitting 7 of 10 field goals as the Mavericks trail the Nuggets 59-58 at halftime tonight at Pepsi Center.
Center Tyson Chandler and guard Jose Barea top the Mavericks with 12 points apiece.
The Nuggets started strong, opening an 18-10 lead behind 12 quick points from Billups.
For as good as Billups played in the first, Carmelo Anthony was equally as good, abusing Billups on the offensive end with both his quickness and strength. Dallas got a little bit loose around the mid-way point of the quarter, turning the ball over and
missing shots. The Nuggets took advantage, taking a 33-19 lead into the second.
Dallas came on strong in the second, getting a nice lift from Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. After turning the ball over three times in the first, the Nuggets gave it up four times in the first six minutes of the second. The Mavericks recovered from their
mistakes by turning up their defensive intensity again and continuing their balanced scoring attack.
Paced by a combined 21 points from the backcourt combination, the Mavericks successfully cut the deficit by 13 points in the second. However, Denver managed to take a one-point lead at the intermission.
The Nuggets are playing really well as they are averaging an NBA-best 110.3 points at home, anyhow, they could struggle offensively versus Dallas as they are surrendering just 96.2 points per game on its current longest active winning streak in the NBA.
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