Mavericks-Nuggets Preview

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks (21-9) at Denver Nuggets (20-10)

When the players on the Dallas Mavericks' roster look around the locker room, it doesn't have to be said.

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Dallas returns to the place where last season ended

The returning Maverick players and the new additions know that Sunday night's game in Denver is more than just another regular season game. The matchup is more than just a contest between two division leaders. It's more than just a test of wills. Sunday night is a measuring stick for both Dallas and Denver, two teams that know each other very well.

"When you have some recent history with a team in a playoff, there's a familiarity. They're familiar with us, we're familiar with them. It makes it that much more competitive usually," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said.

Against the team that ended Dallas' season a year ago in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Mavericks will attempt to show just how improved a team they are at this point in the year. By putting their 10-4 road record on the line in a building that haunted the Dallas squad in last season's playoff run, the Mavs will also be trying to put a strangle hold on the second-best record in the West while fighting the high altitude of the Denver landscape. But the Mavs do figure to be somewhat rested after taking home a 106-101 home win over Memphis in a Saturday matinee game.

"Any time you're going up to Denver, it's always hard with the altitude," sixth man Jason Terry said. "But I'm glad we get a chance to go up early instead of going up late.

"We're going to let our play speak for itself. But they are a good team and they are playing well right now. And we're in a deadly battle for second place."

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Josh Howard, Shawn Marion have the task of stopping Carmelo Anthony

But for the Mavericks to leave the steep air of Denver with a win, they must first stop the league's leading-scorer Carmelo Anthony, who is having an MVP-caliber year. Stopping Anthony's 30.4 points per game scoring average is a daunting task for any defense, but swingmen Shawn Marion and Josh Howard will be handed the responsibility most of the night.

"We've got different guys to throw at Carmelo, so we will," Carlisle said. "Look, there will be more than (Marion and Howard defending Anthony) before we're done. You can count on that.

"(Anthony) is another guy that is having a career year. And that's saying something because he's been a great player, and he's been an All-Star, he's been on the Olympic team and everything else. So, our team defense has to be geared around what's going on with him on the floor...We're going to have to do a lot of things well to win."

On offense, the Mavericks will have to duplicate the balanced scoring that was on display against Memphis on Saturday when a season-best seven players scored in double figures. Dallas is hopeful that multiple offensive options will be become a staple of this team, taking a heavy burden off of leading-scorer Dirk Nowitzki's shoulders.

"It was great. We were moving the ball, getting stops and pushing the ball up to get transition opportunities," Nowitzki said of the play on Saturday.

"This team is going to be something else when we can get consistent contributions from seven or eight players in double figures," Terry said after leading the team with 23 points against the Grizzlies. "That's the way this team was built."

Now the Mavericks hope to show that they were also built to take down the Nuggets on the road. The Mavericks-Nuggets matchup will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:00 p.m. CT. It is the start of four games away from home.

The team returns to the American Airlines Center on Jan. 5 to host the Detroit Pistons. That game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.

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