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By MIKE HEIKA DENVER — Consistency has been a hallmark for Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, and that played a key role in him being named Wednesday to the All-NBA First Team for the fourth time in his career.'It means you played solid basketball for the whole season, not a week or a month,' Nowitzki said. 'That’s what this league is all about, trying to be consistent and helping your teammates night in and night out. I’m very honored.'Nowitzki shares a spot on the starting five with LeBron James of the Cavaliers, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard of the Magic and the Heat’s Dwayne Wade. It is the ninth consecutive season in which Nowitzki has been named to an All-Star team.Nowitzki finished fourth in NBA scoring at 25.9 points per game, seventh in free throw shooting (.890) and 16th in rebounding (8.4 per game).Nowitzki is the only Mavericks player to ever be named first team. The Nuggets had Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups named to the third te

DENVER — Before the Mavericks took the court for Game 5, Josh Howard cut through the fluff and came to this blunt assessment: 'We’re already in a hole. We’re supposed to go out here carefree and ready to win. Worst-case scenario is we got to go home. I’m not ready to go home. Nobody’s going to come out here and not play hard. I guarantee that.'The Mavericks made good on that guarantee. Playing hard and leaving all they had on the court has not been a problem in this series.What was troublesome was the same thing that was evident against New Orleans last season.For the second year in a row, the Mavericks’ season has ended with a convincing playoff loss against a team that was clearly superior.That it came in the second round instead of the first is no real consolation.This is the dilemma facing Mavericks management. They have warriors who will fight. They’re just not good enough to handle the really good teams in the western conference. A suprem

Behind 30 points from Carmelo Anthony and 28 from Chauncey Billups, the Denver Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks 124-110 on Wednesday night to wrap up their semifinal series in five feisty games and advance to their first western conference finals since 1985.

DENVER (AP) -- Lance Berkman went 4-for-4 and the Houston Astros finished with 24 hits in a 15-11 vi...

ARCO Arena, home of the sacramento kings, used to be an Achilles heel for the Mavericks and the rest of the NBA. After all, the Mavericks’ worst loss in team history was a 58-point defeat in Sacramento in 1992. Things have changed since then. The Kings are lottery-bound and the cowbells don’t bother opposing teams as much as they used to. Denver’s Pepsi Center, however, is quickly taking on the role of the new 'Maverick-killer.' Dallas hasn’t won there since December 31, 2006, and is 26-44 all-time in the Mile High City. This season, Denver posted a 33-8 record at home, which tied for third-best in the western conference behind only the Portland Trail Blazers and los angeles lakers. Things are only getting better at home for the Nuggets, as they haven’t lost on their own floor since March 9 (16 consecutive wins).

Behind 30 points from Carmelo Anthony and 28 from Chauncey Billups, the Denver Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks 124-110 on Wednesday night to wrap up their semifinal series in five feisty games and advance to their first western conference finals since 1985.

By EDDIE SEFKO DENVER — The Denver Nuggets saw Mark Cuban’s apology.What they really wanted was to hear it come out of his mouth.Several Nuggets were skeptical about the sincerity of the Maverick owner’s online apology to the family and friends of Denver players over incidents during Games 3 and 4 in Dallas. Carmelo Anthony, whose girlfriend, LaLa Vazquez, had to be removed from her lower-level seats in Game 4, said it was unfortunate that Cuban chose to deliver an apology to Kenyon Martin’s mother via cyberspace. 'Man to man, that’s the way you should do stuff,' Anthony said Wednesday. 'You should approach anything man to man. But he did it. It’s over with. We got no choice but to accept his apology.' Asked if he thought Cuban’s blog, where the owner apologized to Martin’s mother and to other Nugget fans, including Vazquez, was the wrong forum for an olive branch, Anthony said:'No blog-to-blog. No Twitter-to-Twitter. Face to face.'Vazqu

Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets past the Mavericks and into the western conference finals on Wednesday.

Carmelo Anthony and Denver native Chauncey Billups have the Nuggets where they haven't been since 1985 - in the western conference finals.

Behind 30 points from Carmelo Anthony and 28 from Chauncey Billups, the Denver Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks 124-110 on Wednesday night.