Fresh off the loss, here are my immediate thoughts.

Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers.

The Mavericks committed 20 turnovers, 8 by Jason Kidd.  To put that number in perspective, Jason Kidd committed 3 turnovers against the Spurs...in the entire series.  So why the disparity?  We knew coming into this series that the Nuggets had athletic players that could give the Mavericks trouble.  But this was mostly a close game.  Give credit to the Nuggets for being in the passing lanes and disrupting our offense. But make no mistake about it: the Nuggets DO NOT want to work hard on defense.  Some of the Mavericks turnovers came when they simply allowed the Nuggets defenders to out-muscle them for a steal.  There were also mistakes early in the shot clock which is exactly what the Nuggets want.  They want to play defense for 10 seconds and hope they get a turnover or rebound in that span.

More on Jason Kidd- I thought he had a quiet first half.  In a bad way.  In the second half, many of his passes were sloppy and unnecessary.  He singlehandedly killed our momentum in the third quarter.  This came at a time when the game was not out of hand and there wasn't a rush.  I want the old, (no pun intended) poised Jason Kidd from the San Antoinio series.  To his credit, his defense on Billups was very effective.

Physical Play

In the first half and third quarter, I felt the Mavericks matched the Nuggets blow for blow.  In fact, they got off to a great start, not letting the Nuggets get inside their heads.  Here's the part where I blast the officiating.  The Nuggets got away with a lot of touch fouls.  On the other end, all of our contact drew a whistle.  Rick Carlisle should just send the NBA a blank check and sound off publicly.  So many times during the game I said out loud, "Carmelo would have gotten that call" or  "The same thing happened to us on the other end!  Why is it foul when we do it?".  I'm usually not one to disparage referees (seriously) but the disparity between fouls was clear as day.  The Nuggets attempted 34 free throws to the Mavericks 13.  Yes, 13.  Even the announcers called them out a few times.  I wouldn't make such a big out of this if the Mavericks weren't playing aggressively.  We've all seen them settle for too many jump shots, avoid contact, allow players to penetrate at will.  But today I could tell they made a conscious effort to play aggressively.  My only crtitism is that they let the officiating get to them and became more passive as the game went on.  That obviously played right into the Nuggets' hands.  That's the Mavericks team they want to go against.

Okay Carlisle, it's your move.

I think the Mavericks need to tweak their offense a little bit when Chris Andersen is guarding Dirk.  Catching the ball at the free throw line wasn't a high percentage play today.  I credit Dirk for staying aggressive no matter who was on him.   And there were times when Dirk made unforced errors.  But I think giving Dirk the ball a little further outside the lane will work wonders.  He can still get into his jumpshot, but getting Andersen outside the lane favors Dirk.  Andersen doesn't want to guard Dirk that far out.  And the Mavericks could run a cutter through the lane to take advantage of an Andersen-less lane.  Also they could let Dirk catch it on the block and let the 7-footer survey the court or turn and shoot.

Unfortunately the bench didn't come through today.  Bass, where are you?  Part of this was officiating (see above).  But JJ was virtually non-existent and at times over matched.  Hollins was average.   Wright has seen a steady decline in his play.  Even Jet was pedestrian.   I don't see the Mavericks winning this series with this kind of bench play, no matter how well the starters play.  I think we already knew that though.  Carlisle really needs to coach up this group.

Hey, they're using our winning formula!

With Billups and Anthony held in check for most of the game, Denver's role players came to play.  When Anthony went to the bench with his third personal foul, the Mavericks probably patted themselves on the back.  With Denver's best scorer on the bench, the Mavericks could close the second with a bang.  Instead, they made Nene look like Amare Stoudemire.  He hit jump shots, finished fast breaks, and either scored or drew fouls using post moves.  Perhaps he was underestimated in the Mavericks' game plan, similar to the way the Spurs underestimated JJ.  Dampier getting hurt early sure didn't help.  And when Anthony Carter has a game this good, you know things are clicking for the Nuggets.  J.R. Smith was J.R. Smith, no surprises. 

The Mavericks MUST adjust their paint shooting to Andersen.  Hanging in the air for three seconds isn't going to cut it.  Try a reverse layup, a quick dunk, shoot it high off the glass, or a high-arching floater.  Also, use his shot blocking against him by drawing fouls.  In 24 minutes he was called for only 1 foul.  That needs to change.

The Good

Jason Kidd's defense on Chauncey Billups...Mavs starting the game aggressive...Dirk is playing tough...Mavs contained the Nuggets runs well until the fourth quarter...Carlisle is once again a master of the timeout...The Mavs had balanced scoring, just not enough.

Final Thought

Can our trainers piece Josh Howard together yet again?  I was encouraged by his second half, but he didn't drive much after the injury. 

This is the way I saw the game...Additions/corrections are welcome.