NBA Scores Western Conference Playoffs: Denver Nuggets Hold Off Dallas Mavericks to Grab Early Series Lead

Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and handed out 4 assists, Nene added 24 points and J.R. Smith finished with 15 points and 6 assists as the Denver Nuggets held off the Dallas Mavericks 109-95 on Sunday to grab a 1-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

Dirk Nowitzki came out and scored the Mavericks first 10 points for the Mavericks and Dallas built a 12-6 advantage and led by as many as nine points before settling with a 24-16 lead at the end of the frame. Dallas continued to hold the lead in the second but the Nuggets began to chip away and when Nene sent home a dunk with 6:35 remaining in the half they grabbed their first lead of the game at 33-32. Jason Terry answered with a three-pointer for the Mavs and the two teams traded buckets the rest of the half until Chris Andersen and Anthony Johnson scored back to back buckets to give Denver a 51-47 lead at the break.

Denver pushed their lead up to nine early in the third quarter but the Mavericks didn’t fold as Nowitzki Jason Kidd and Josh Howard kept them within single digits and when Nowitzki hit a 12-footer to cap a 14-0 spurt the Mavs were back in front 63-62. After Nene put the Nuggets in front with a pair of free-throws Kidd buried a three-pointer to put the Mavs in front by two but that would be the last time they held the advantage as Denver slowly began to pull away with consistent buckets and they carried an 82-75 lead into the fourth. Terry opened the final frame with a triple and Nowitzki followed with a short jumper to get Dallas back to within 82-80 but Chris Andersen hit a jumper and then sank a pair of free throws to give Denver some breathing room. Dallas then went nearly six minutes without hitting a field goal as Denver pushed their lead to 101-84 with just under five minutes left and the Mavs were done.

Click here for more Sports News

About YourFINDit

YourFindit Community is a business, music and social networking community. YourFINDit provides members with a wealth of applications that enable them to create an in depth profile within YourFindit. Profiles include an About Me, Background and Lifestyle, Videos, Photo sharing, News, Music, Blogs, unique URL and networking with other members inside the YourFINDit community. YourFindit provides ADit to each member providing them the opportunity to have an exclusive profile (no outside advertising) displaying only banner ads they upload to their pages. Members can run their own ads or give or sell their ad space to advertisers at prices the member sets.

To create your profile sign up and within minutes you too can have your People profile running your ads and building your network with new members daily.

YourFindit is owned and operated by TransWorldNews, Inc. a news and press release distribution service.