Big D? Not Denver as road streak concludes

Dallas rains 3-pointers, going 15-for-27 to hurt Nuggets’ hopes

DALLAS» The mike attached to each basketball hoop inside the American Airlines Center is oddly loud, making every shot that swishes through the net or clanks off the rim sound overly dramatic.

Fifteen times Tuesday night, it signaled that the Mavericks had drained another 3-pointer. That blistering performance from beyond the arc anchored Dallas’ second-half charge to top the Nuggets 118-107, prompting Denver coach Michael Malone to again question his team’s defensive mentality in the midst of its playoff push.

“Tonight was unacceptable,” Malone said. “You have 19 games to go, and effort, care, those things should never be talked about right now. I felt we had a couple guys tonight that ... It’s one thing to miss shots and to make mistakes. It’s another thing to go out there and just kind of go through the motions.

“I don’t think we can have that right now. Each game, each quarter, each play, each possession is way too important.”

The loss dropped the Nuggets (35-29) out of the crowded Western Conference playoff picture — at least temporarily. Denver entered Tuesday with a halfgame lead for eighth on the Clippers, who hosted New Orleans late Tuesday, and one game back of Oklahoma City, which fell to Houston on Tuesday. The defeat also snapped the Nuggets’ fourgame road winning streak, their longest since December 2013.

A Mavericks team that entered Tuesday ranked fifth in the NBA in both 3-point attempts and makes made 55.6 percent of its attempts, helping them to a 38-23 third-quarter outburst to take control for good. Denver got within five points halfway through the fourth quarter when Malik Beasley finished inside to cut