I had to post this in hopes that all you Mavs fans will be rooting for our team tonight, and because my other company (outside of real estate) LunaChic PR [www.lunachicpr.com] represents an emerging Mavs player, so we stand behind him 100%
GO MAVS!!!!!
(E.Sefko - DMN) The Mavericks need a win tonight at Denver to stake their claim that a playoff spot is theirs for the taking. It won't nail it down, but it would give them a working margin for error.
A win would give the Mavericks a three-game lead on No. 9 Denver, plus the tiebreaker. A win means they could finish the final 10 games of the regular season 4-6, and the Nuggets would have to go 8-2 to pull ahead and knock the Mavericks out of the postseason.
"We talk about how it's just another game," coach Avery Johnson said. "We're not saying that anymore. We're playing single elimination. That's the way we've got to look at it."
The Mavericks split two meetings with the Nuggets at American Airlines Center. Because they only play Denver three times this season, this is the Mavericks' only trip to Pepsi Center.
They will be without Dirk Nowitzki, who stayed in Dallas to rehabilitate his injured left ankle and knee as the team left Wednesday. It's conceivable he may rejoin them later on the three-game trip.
But for now, it will be the rest of the Mavericks who have to make a stand if they are to protect their playoff standing.
As bad as the Mavericks' 1-3 homestand was, the trip that continues at Golden State and at Los Angeles against the Clippers offers the chance to bury the recent losses.
"You can easily turn a bad week into a good week by winning these next three," Jason Kidd said.
The alternative would be the onset of the Dirk-less darkness. If the Mavericks can't keep afloat while their star is out, then there's no reason for him to come back at all.
It starts tonight.
"They're trying to get into the eighth spot," center Erick Dampier said of Denver. "I'm sure it's going to be a physical game. Those guys want to get in the playoffs, but we're going to do everything we can to not let them in the playoffs."
With Dirk Nowitzki (right) hurt, the Dallas Mavericks will look to others to avoid being on the outside of the playoffs looking in. The Nuggets have won three in a row. They are 28-7 at home, where they haven't lost in more than a month.
The Mavericks, of course, would like to be full strength for this stretch. But even when they were healthy, they lost home games to top Western Conference contenders.
Now, they face the sort of adversity that often can galvanize a team.
"A buddy of mine took me to lunch yesterday," Johnson said. "He's in the oil business, and he's pretty successful now, but he dug some dry wells before and dug some wells that didn't produce what he thought they would produce. But he kept on digging. And that's what we've got to do, keep on digging, and hopefully, we'll hit one of those big-time gushers.
"We know we're going to have a tough task in Denver. We predicted this way back in January. There can be a shifting and a swinging in the standings. Nothing's decided yet. With 10, 11, 12 games for some teams left, there's still great opportunities out there, especially for us."
More than anything, the Mavericks will determine tonight just what kind of margin for error they will have in the season's last 10 games.
GO MAVS!!!!!!!!!! GO MAVS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO MAVS!!!!!!!!!!!! GO MAVS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OKAY, NOW BACK TO BUSINESS! SEE YA'LL IN THE NEXT POST!
Linda
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