Notebook: Mavericks 105, Nuggets 95

Posted Thursday February 9, 2012 1:11AM

By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and nine rebounds, Vince Carter scored 17 points and eight assists and the Dallas Mavericks ended a three-game skid with a 105-95 win over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

Ty Lawson had 16 points and 10 assists and Nene had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost four straight and six of their last seven. The Nuggets have also lost four straight at home.

QUOTABLE: "An All-Star performance, didn't you think? He's getting back into a groove offensively and he's looking like himself."
-- Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, on Nowitzki's game

THE STAT: The Mavericks took 90 shots compared to Denver's 72. The discrepancy was due to the Nuggets having 17 turnovers and attempting 18 more free throws than the Mavericks.

TURNING POINT: Down 87-80 early in the fourth quarter the Nuggets passed up two open 3-pointers. Arron Afflalo then drove into a double team and missed a contested layup late in the shot clock. Dallas got the lead back up to 11 and Denver couldn't get the deficit under double digits the rest of the way.

HOT: Carter took just 12 shots for his 17 points, but he picked his spots to score. With the Nuggets trying to stay close, he hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the third to extend the Mavericks' lead to 81-64. In the fourth he answered Al Harrington's jumper with one of his own to give Dallas a 13-point lead with 4:23 left.

QUOTABLE II: "I enjoy it. You have somebody like Dirk, most of the time they're going to keep somebody close to him, and we have a lot of other guys and we trust each other."
-- Carter, on Dallas' 30 assists.

NOT: The Nuggets seemed tentative on offense. They passed up open shots, held the ball too long at other times and allowed Dallas to recover defensively. No matter what combination Nuggets coach George Karl used he couldn't find the right chemistry.

QUOTABLE III: "We were down by eight and on our faces it looked like we were down by 20."
-- Nuggets forward Rudy Fernandez

INSIDE THE ARENA: Seven members of the Tuskegee Airmen presented the game ball before tip-off. Ted Williams, the erstwhile homeless man who is known as "The Man With the Golden Voice," was in the arena. He shares an agent with Karl.

GOOD MOVE: The Mavericks transition defense. It was a point of emphasis for them after dropping three in a row and they were effective against a team that likes to get out on the break.

QUOTABLE IV: "The weight of losing is our locker room. I don't think we're playing bad basketball, I just don't think we're playing winning basketball. We're searching for confidence and confidence didn't come tonight in a lot of packages."
-- Karl, on his team's struggles

NOTABLE: The Mavericks' 64 points in the first half were the most Denver has given up for one half this season. ... Dallas snapped a four-game losing streak against the Nuggets. ... Denver's four straight home losses is its worst stretch at Pepsi Center since losing five of six during the 2006-07 season.

UP NEXT: For the Mavericks, Friday @ Minnesota, Saturday vs. Portland, Monday vs. L.A. Clippers. For the Nuggets, Thursday vs. Golden State, Saturday @ Indiana, Tuesday vs. Phoenix.