Throughout the playoffs, Nuggets coach George Karl has spoken of “X-factors,” players who contribute in unexpected ways.
And while Tuesday night’s Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals ended the way all of Denver’s playoff games at the Pepsi Center have, with the home team cruising to victory, it’s possible that the visiting Dallas Mavericks may have stumbled upon something that will serve them well when the series resumes Saturday in Texas.
While Dirk Nowitzki played well, scoring a game-high 35 points, and Jason Terry continued to show he can bury the tough jumper, it could be argued that the Mavericks’ best chance of getting back into the best-of-seven set lies with Brandon Bass and Ryan Hollins. That’s especially true with standout forward Josh Howard sidelined for all but six minutes because of injuries to both ankles.
The two reserves, who got the majority of their action during garbage time in Sunday’s series opener, were front and center early Tuesday. Bass scored six points for Dallas in the second quarter, making all three of his field-goal attempts. That effort was matched by Hollins, who also added three rebounds and gave the visitors a more viable defensive presence than the creaky-looking Erick Dampier.
With Denver center Nene scoring big for a second straight contest — he had a team-high 24 points in Game 1 and topped that with 25 on Tuesday — some were wondering if the time had come for Dallas coach Rick Carlisle to pull the plug on Dampier, a 12-year veteran, in favor of the younger, more spry Hollins.
“Ryan played well. He’s an energy guy who gave us some good minutes tonight,” Carlisle said. “But I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss ‘Damp’ as a problem guy.”
Perhaps Dampier was hearing that same talk. Early in the third quarter, he scored two baskets. Fouled after the second, Dampier missed the free-throw attempt, but the Mavericks rebounded, leading to a basket by Nowitzki.
The sequence was part of a surge that saw Dallas, which had trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, tie the game at 77 with 3:35 remaining in the quarter.
But the quarter ended with Denver leading 86-83, and when the Nuggets began the fourth quarter by scoring the first nine points, holding Dallas scoreless until the 8:36 mark in the process, momentum was once again on their side.
That raised the question: Now down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series, what could Dallas do to brake the Nuggets’ runaway train? On Tuesday, Carlisle started Antoine Wright in place of J.J. Barea and at one point went with a smallish lineup that included Jason Kidd, Barea and Terry.
But Denver exploited that matchup on the offensive end, its guards penetrating the lane and dishing off to big men for dunks and layups.
“We’ll look at the film as well as anything else that can help us,” Carlisle said. “One thing I know is that I’m not shy at all about making lineup changes if I think it’s something that will help us win.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
