The Denver Nuggets are headed to the Western Conference. In Game 5 against the Dallas Mavericks, the Nuggets’ offense proved to be just too much. Denver got up early and glided to a 124-110 victory.

Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups were the stars for the Nuggets. Anthony led the way with 30 points, five assists and three assists, while Billups had 28 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. Anthony hit 13-of-22 field goald attempts and Billups of 10-of-16. J.R. Smith, Nene and Kenyon Martin chipped in with 18, 17 and 15 points, respectively.

As expected, Dirk Nowitzki was the star for the Mavericks. The superstar forward out of Germany had 32 points, ten rebounds and seven assists, while hitting 9-of-17 shots from the field and 12-of-12 free throws. Jason Kidd had 19 points and nine assists, while Brandon Bass had 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Nuggets will play either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers hold a 3-2 lead in the series and will be looking to eliminate the Rockets in Houston in Game 6.

Chauncey Billups is headed to the Western Conference Finals (Image: Newscom)

Down 0-3 in the best of seven series against the Denver Nuggets, the Dallas Mavericks faced a must-win game on Monday night. Playing in front of his home fans, Dirk Nowitzki had a game to remember as he led the Mavs to a 119-117 victory and Game 5 to be played in Denver.

Nowitzki scored 44 points on the night, including 19 points in the final stanza. For the game, the native of Germany hit 14-of-25 shots from the field, 16-of-17 shots from the line, pulled down 13 rebounds, handed out three assists, collected two steals and blocked one shot. Helping out Nowitzki was Josh Howard, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds while playing on a pair of gimpy ankles.

For the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony was also very impressive. He finished with 41 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists. Chauncey Billups had 24 points and seven assists, while J.R. Smith had 19 points off of the bench.

Game 5 is to be played on Wednesday. If the Mavs win that game, Game 6 will be back in Dallas on Friday.

Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks (Image: Newscom)

Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets is regarded as one of the clutchest players in the basketball world. On Saturday, Anthony proved his clutchness once again. Down by two points with less than five seconds remaining, the Nuggets’ superstar small forward drained a three-pointer to give Denver the 106-105 win and a 3-0 lead in the best of seven series against the Dallas Mavericks.

Carmelo Anthony Game-Winner (Image: Newscom)

On the game, Anthony had 31 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 42 minutes. Chauncey Billups also starred for the Nuggets, finishing with 32 points, three rebounds and three assists in 41 minutes. Kenyon Martin (12 points) and J.R. Smith (10 points) also finished in double-digits.

For the Mavs, this was a bitter loss. Prior to Anthony’s game-winning three-pointer, Antoine Wright of the Mavs tried to foul him because Dallas had a foul to give. Despite replays showing that Wright did foul Anthony, there was no call from the referees. Following the game, the NBA admitted that the ref made a mistake by not calling a foul.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 33 points in 38 minutes. Jason Terry, the 2009 Sixth Man of the Year, had 17 points and four rebounds from off the bench.

Game 4 will be played on Monday in Dallas. With a victory, the Nuggets would advance to the Western Conference Finals.

The Dallas Mavericks put up a good fight. And then the fourth quarter began. Using a big start to the final period, the Denver Nuggets were able to crush the Mavs again and go up 2-0 in this best of seven series.

The Nuggets, who won the game by a final score of 117-105, got 25 points from both Nene and Carmelo Anthony. Chauncey Billups chipped in with 18 points and eight assists, while J.R. Smith poured in 21 points from off the bench.

For Dallas, it was the Dirk Nowitzki show. The German bigman had 35 points, nine rebounds and four assists. 2009 Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry had 21 points and six assists from off the bench.

Going back to the regular season, the Nuggets are now 6-0 against the Mavs. The next two games of this series will be played in Dallas. Game 3 will be on Saturday, while Monday is the date for Game 4.

Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets (Image: Newscom)

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. The Spurs are now one loss away from going on vacation, however Tony Parker did everything he could to will his team to victory.

The 6-foot-2 guard from France scored 43 points on 18-of-29 shooting from the field. He also had five rebounds, four steals, three assists and a blocked shot. Despite that effort, it wasn’t enough to overcome Dallas’ team play.

For the Mavs, Josh Howard had 28 points and four rebounds, while Jason Kidd chipped in 17 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Dirk Nowtizki and Jason Terry, who are regarded as the two best players on the team, combined for only 22 points on 26 shot attempts.

The next game in this series will be on Tuesday in San Antonio. If the Spurs win that game, the two teams will play Game 6 on Friday in Dallas.

Tony Parker Couldn't do Enough for the Spurs (Image: Newscom)

Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks won the 2009 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. The 31-year-old guard out of Arizona averaged 19.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 33.7 minutes per game. He played in 74 out of the 82 games and came off the bench in 63 of those contests.

Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks (Image: Newscom)

Currently, Terry and the Mavs are playing the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs. The Mavs are up 2-1 against the Spurs and the fourth game between the two Texas teams is on Saturday.

Despite coming off the bench, Terry was second on the Mavs in scoring. Only Dirk Nowitzki’s 25.9-point scoring average was higher. Terry led the team in three-pointers made (167) and three-pointers attempted (456).

The other players in the NBA who received first place votes in the balloting were J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets, Nate Robinson of the New York Knicks, Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers, Travis Outlaw of the Portland Trail Blazers, Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs and Ronald “Flip” Murray of the Atlanta Hawks. Terry received 111 of the 121 first place votes.

By Guest Blogger Bo Durkop

Texas’ three NBA teams are well represented in the 2008 Olympics. The Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki, Houston Rockets Yao Ming, and the San Antonio Spurs Manu Ginobili, who each just a few months earlier competed in the NBA playoffs are now set to perform for an even larger world wide audience.

After propelling German men’s basketball team to its first Olympic appearance in sixteen years, Dirk Nowitzki was assigned the honor of carrying the country’s flag in the opening ceremony.

Now with that celebration over, the real work begins. In the preliminary round for group B, Germany’s first match is against Angola. Even greater challenges awaits the erman squad in the upcoming week when they take on European champions Greece, World Champions Spain, the highly motivated and extremely talented USA squad, and China, the host country’s celebrated team.

Leading China’s team is Yao Ming, who is making his third Olympic appearance. China reached the quarterfinals in the 2004 Olympics and will have plenty of fan support this summer as they strive for further progress. Yao Ming, who humbly carried the Olympic torch in Beijing, has a fire in his belly when it comes to competing.

In an interview with local Chinese media, Ming said, “I think we should focus on how to do well at this Olympics because (the Beijing Games) has been a dream for us all.”

Manu Ginobili along with a battle tested Argentina squad is looking to make their dream of Olympic championship repeat come true. Argentina’s first obstacle to overcome is the team from Lithuania. Both teams have been assigned to group A, along with Australia, Iran, Russia, and Croatia.

When asked to describe his team’s chemistry, Manu said, “We are hard workers and we just want the best for our teammates. On every team, that’s huge. We got all the roles well-covered and we’re all looking for just one simple goal.”

For all these players, though the goal is clear, the results remain to be seen.

Photo credit: Newscom