Dallas – Poor shooting could be blamed, but the Nuggets didn’t seem to be in a sharing mood Sunday.
The Nuggets totaled a season-low 12 assists in a nationally televised 103-79 whipping by the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Denver’s team leaders in assists were Andre Miller and Kenyon Martin with three each.
In another possibly costly loss in the evolving Western Conference playoff race, the Nuggets shot just 38.7 percent from the field, missed 12-of-16 3-pointers and gave up 23 points off turnovers.
“We didn’t pass the ball enough to win,” coach George Karl said. “Ever since I came to Denver I have been preaching to pass….We didn’t do it.”
With Denver’s loss, the Memphis Grizzlies took the advantage. If the playoffs started today, the third-seeded Nuggets (41-33) would play the sixth-seeded Grizzlies (42-32). But Memphis would own home- court advantage because of a better record. Denver could land the third seed by winning the Northwest Division, but the loss kept its magic number over the Utah Jazz at four.
“All I worry about is us,” said Nuggets center Marcus Camby, who had four points and four rebounds in 28 minutes. “Everyone wants to worry about magic numbers. I know nothing about that stuff.”
Denver, however, holds the tiebreaker over Memphis. The Nuggets and Grizzlies play three of their final eight games against teams with winning records. The Grizzlies also are in striking distance of taking the West’s fifth spot from the Los Angeles Clippers, who play seven of their final 10 games against winning teams.
When asked if he was scoreboard-watching for updates on the Grizzlies’ 98-87 win over Atlanta, Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony said: “I don’t even watch TV. I don’t know what’s going on out there. I just know we got to win these next couple of games.”
Karl, who is considering making lineup changes, said: “We’ll probably know better who we are playing in 10 days.”
Miller made a three-quarter-court shot at the first-quarter buzzer to trim Dallas’ lead to 29-18. Denver outscored Dallas 22-15 in the second quarter to get within 44-40 at halftime, but had just three assists.
“We had three assists at halftime, which is terrible,” said Anthony, who had 25 points on 9-of-24 shooting and missed 5-of-7 3-pointers. “I think we were passing the ball. We just weren’t making any shots.”
Dallas (55-19) had a 21-18 free-throw advantage at the half. Even so, outspoken Dallas owner Mark Cuban wasn’t pleased with the officiating.
“This was terrible, and I want it on the record,” he said. “I said that at halftime, no matter what the outcome.”
Aided by a zone defense, Dallas dominated the Nuggets 29-18 in the third quarter to take a commanding 73-58 lead.
“We were pretty good defensively, for the most part, against one of the tougher teams in the Western Conference,” Dallas coach Avery Johnson said.
Said Dallas center Erick Dampier: “It’s amazing when you go out there and have fun, run up and down the floor, score easy baskets, sharing the ball and getting everyone involved. That’s fun.”
Had the Nuggets had Dampier’s frame of mind Sunday, maybe they would have had more fun. Or maybe it was the shooting.
“We don’t pass it to each other enough,” Karl said.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
