Unhappy Mavericks abound, but the final tally reads - Nuggets up 3-0

In a game where 61 fouls were called (34 against the Nuggets) - it was the one that didn't get called that had everyone talking.

With 6 seconds left in the game, Carmelo received the inbounds pass with the Nuggets down 2 points. As he moved to his right, with Antoine Wright covering him, he nearly coughed up the ball but recovered near the sideline. Wright then bumped him and stopped, as Melo continued another step and then gathered himself. As Wright stood there with his arms in the air, Melo calmly and safely launched an uncontested a three-point jumper from a few feet away... and hit nothing but net. Dallas dejectedly called a time-out with 1 second remaining. As soon as Melo's shot went in, Dallas started complaining about the un-called foul. Why Wright didn't simply wrap up Melo to make his intentions clear - using up Dallas' "foul-to-give", is beyond me.

1 second left is still enough time for Dirk to get off a good shot. With everyone on the Nuggets squad knowing who the shot is going to, Anthony Carter wisely slipped off his man and helped double Dirk just as he was about to receive the inbounds pass. This forced him to step out about 10 feet further from the basket than he had intended, and his shot at the buzzer turned into a hopeless airball with Kenyon Martin in his face.

The Nuggets will look to close out this 2nd round series on Monday night in Dallas.

See Carmelo Anthony's game winner in this Game #3 recap:

Dahntay Jones elevates and dunks on Dallas's Erick Dampier on the NBA.com pick for "DUNK of the NIGHT":

Thoughts/Observations from the game:

Final Thought:

Mathematically, this series is over. Dallas might still eke out a win in Game #4 for pride, but the Nuggets will either finish them off Monday or Wednesday back in Denver. Dallas is a great team, and Dirk is an amazing NBA player, but they are overmatched by the Nuggets in athleticism and effort.

On to Player Ratings for the game: (ratings on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest)

	Chauncey stepped up aggressively on offense for the first time in this series and put in 16 points in the 3rd quarter to help the cold shooting Nuggets keep pace. His 32 points total was a team high and he hit 3-7 three pointers.	Player rating: 4.5
	JR had an off-shooting game (3-10 for 10 points) but he had 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block and had the best +/0 rating for all Nuggets players with +8.	Player rating: 4.0
	Nene had his first quiet game of this series, shooting 2-10 for 5 points, but his rebounds and assists were both team highs.	Player rating: 3.0
	Efficient game with 5-6 shooting for 12 points and 4 rebounds, but his defense on Dirk when it mattered most helped create the scenario where Melo could be the hero.	Player rating: 4.5
	Tough night shooting but his aggressiveness on the court was huge with 31 points and 8 rebounds. Getting to the line 14 times helped offset his 9-24 shooting night. He scored the final 5 points for the Nuggets to steal the win.	Player rating: 4.0
	Had a great start to the game - getting his 5 points and 5 of his 6 rebounds in his first 5 minutes on the court, but was then saddled with fouls (admittedly, some of them cheap) and was ineffective.	Player rating: 3.0

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Game Summary written by: aswitzer