The Nuggets had won four consecutive games, but the schedule suggested the degree of difficulty was about to rise.
The Dallas Mavericks, among the West’s best, were coming to town.
But by the time they arrived at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night, that degree of difficulty shrank — considerably. Down to minuscule levels.
Rajon Rondo was out. Dirk Nowitzki was out. Tyson Chandler was out. All three are key starters who missed the game for various reasons. And with them sidelined, the game went from “hope to win” to “must win” for the mostly full-strength Nuggets.
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And despite some nail-biting moments in the end, they did just that.
The Nuggets crept closer to .500 after a 114-107 victory over the Mavericks, Denver’s fifth win in a row. They are 18-20 now, just two games under the even mark for the first time since Dec. 12.
“We just want to keep building,” Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. “We can’t get six until we get five. That’s kind of what we’ve been saying this whole time as we’ve been building up in this thing. Hopefully (the players will) start to enjoy the way it feels after the games and want to keep feeling that way.”
They have their offense to thank.
The Nuggets weren’t overpowering as much as they were methodical, persistent and efficient on the offensive end. They were patient when they needed to be and fast when required. They got off to a good start thanks to Arron Afflalo, who made his first three shots.
Others took it from there.
The production was necessary while the Nuggets worked out myriad defensive issues. The Mavericks, though depleted, forced the tempo and were constantly in the lane with relentless drives into the paint. The Nuggets struggled to deal with that, which allowed the Mavericks to keep themselves in the game through the first half.
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The Nuggets built a 19-point lead in the third quarter before the Mavericks fought back. But in that quarter and then into the fourth, the Nuggets were able to keep Dallas at arm’s length. Dallas got the lead down to single digits and caused some anxious late-game moments, but the Nuggets held on.
More was needed from Ty Lawson, because the Nuggets did not yet have their newest player, point guard Jameer Nelson, available to take some of the ball-handling responsibilities. So Lawson played 44 minutes and led the Nuggets with 29 points and 12 assists. Kenneth Faried made big plays down the stretch and finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
“I just played basketball,” Faried said. “At the end of the game, I was just in that zone where I was able to help defensively and help rebounding and make my free throws and was able to finish at the rim.”
He added, “I’m happy we’re winning games, but we’ve just got to keep grinding.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
