Re: Mavs' win streak vanishes into thin air Mavs' win streak vanishes into thin airDallas fails in bid for 14th straight win, 113-10401:58 AM CST on Saturday, February 11, 2006By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning NewsDENVER - Avery Johnson rejected the notion that the Mavericks were walking into a trap game.It doesn't matter what Johnson called Friday night's match-up with Denver. The longest winning streak in the NBA this season is over.A Mavericks team that went 29 days without a loss was confronted with the same intensity it had displayed in racking up 13 consecutive victories. The result was a 113-104 win by a fast-breaking Nuggets team at the Pepsi Center."This was probably one of our worst performances of the season," Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "But we had a good run. This is kinda weird. If you're not used to losing, it feels like you just lost a playoff series."It stings."One night after the Mavericks, in the words of Shaquille O'Neal, gave Miami, "a good old-fashioned beat down," the Nuggets treated the Mavericks to a beat down - Colorado style.Denver's half-court defense doesn't stop anyone. But the Nuggets were flying around on the perimeter this evening, forcing 24 turnovers to get out in transition and neutralize the Mavericks' rapidly improving interior defense.The Nuggets shot a white-hot 61 percent from the field through three quarters to take a 19-point lead into the final period. The Mavericks challenged, but were too far behind to recover.Johnson said the Mavericks were lethargic physically and mentally. He credits the Nuggets for taking the fight to them.So did Jason Terry. But the Mavericks guard wanted everyone to know, "that was by no means us" on the court Friday."We got beat," guard Jerry Stackhouse said. "We've been handing out a lot of beatings over the last 29 days. We came out on the bad end of it tonight."The key for Denver was Kenyon Martin. The Bryan Adams graduate has struggled with injuries, the media and coach George Karl this season. He entered Friday's game facing charges that he sent a friend into the stands to confront hecklers during Denver's loss to Chicago two nights earlier, charges he denies.Any anger Martin had Friday was directed at the Mavericks' defense. He finished with 34 points, one off his career high, for his best performance in a Nuggets uniform."He was making his jumper," Johnson said. "We weren't physical with him. We were just a step slow."The Mavericks were certainly slow to start the game. Dallas fell behind, 29-10, to a Denver team that had lost six of seven and trailed by 10 or more points in eight consecutive games.Guess what? The Mavericks never led. The team did counter with a 24-9 burst to pull within two points early in the second quarter, but could get no closer.The loss left the Mavericks one game shy of equaling the franchise record of 14 consecutive victories, set when they opened the 2002-03 season with that streak.Forward Josh Howard said he had grown tired of hearing about the streak from reporters. So did Johnson, but he knew they were on a good one."We became cognizant of the fact as we got closer to the record," Stackhouse said. "But it never became anything prevalent in our lockerroom."It's a minor setback."Now, the Mavericks have a two days off before they play the New York Knicks."We didn't even buy into the whole streak thing," Terry said. "It was fun while it lasted."Now, let's start another one."E-mail dmoore@dallasnews.com[url="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/021106dnspomavslede.16477c2b.html"]http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...e.16477c2b.html[/url]
