Full-Court Press

Flagrant and Fragrant

Josh Howard got whistled for a flagrant 1 that didn't look like much. He may, however, had gotten J.R. Smith in the face. Smith just hit 1 of his 2 free throws.

Mark Cuban has probably already e-mailed the league office.

   -- Jim Reeves

O-for-3s

While the Nuggets have hit 7-of-9 three-pointers to forge a 49-35 lead with 6:43 left in the second quarter, the Mavs are 0-for-5 from behind the arc.

Rick Carlisle just called timeout after a behind-the-head dunk by J.R. Smith and the Mavs are beginning to look very, very discouraged.

You can understand why.

   -- Jim Reeves

Extra Security

Kenyon Martin's mom and step-dad are sitting just behind and about 30 feet to my left and the Mavs have a security guard standing nearby.

Martin came over to check on them while the refs were checking the replay on the Wright-Anthony play.

 -- Jim Reeves

Hello, Mavs Fans

Anthony's "push" on Wright did at least one thing for the Mavs....it got the crowd back into the game.

Before that, it was getting awfully quiet in the AAC. It doesn't hurt that J.J. Barea has injected a little energy for the Mavs, too, but they still trail 40-28 with 10:15 left in the first half.

   -- Jim Reeves

Push or Punch?

Early in the second quarter Anthony Wright and Carmelo Anthony got locked up under the Nuggets' basket. There was some pulling and pushing and Anthony finally took an open-handed swipe at Wright. The refs got between them before things could escalate and then, at Rick Carlisle's urging, agreed to take a look at the replay to see if a punch was thrown.

Much was at stake. If it was ruled a punch, Anthony would have been ejected and likely suspended for the next game as well.

The refs, however, stuck to their original call of a technical on Anthony. Jet Terry made the free throw.

   -- Jim Reeves

Who Came to Play?

You be the judge.

The Nuggets lead after the first quarter, 34-23. They have hit 13-of-18 shots overall, 5-of-6 on three-pointers.

"The Happy Hooker," Xaviera Hollander, played better defense.

Dirk Nowitzski -- who else -- leads the Mavs with 8 points.

Double Figures

A Carmelo dunk -- he blew right around Howard -- a J.R. Smith three, another Carmelo dunk and a Linas Kleiza three and the Nuggets have a 34-21 lead with 43.1 seconds left in the quarter.

Mavs have once again forgotten what defense is.

   -- Jim Reeves

Eighty Percent

If I told you the Nuggets were shooting 80 percent in the game, you'd probably think that's a decent free throw percentage....except that it's from the floor.

The Nuggets have hit 8 of their first 10 shots, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

   -- Jim Reeves

X Factor This

Josh Howard has been called "the X-factor" by Rick Carlisle and his Mavs' teammates and he's playing on two bad ankles but still....

Besides missing his first four shots of the game, he just tossed a careless pass straight into the hands of Dahtay Jones, who obligingly slammed down a dunk, prompting Carlisle to call a quick timeout. Nuggets lead 14-8 with 6:12 left in the first.

   -- Jim Reeves

Cold From the Floor

Mavs had a 6-2 lead early, but they're trailing 12-6 after hitting just 3 of their first 11 shots. Howard is 0-for-4 and Dirk has had two shots blocked.

   -- Jim Reeves