DENVER _ We don't want to suggest that the 11-game stretch the Mavericks started Tuesday night is going to be harder than advanced physics, but we will let the numbers speak for themselves.
20: Number of days in which they will play 11 games.
9: Road games in that span.
4: Nights they will get the chance to sleep in their own beds.
8,314: Air miles they will fly, just slightly less than the distance from Dallas to the South Pole and farther than the 15-hour, 7,360-mile preseason trip to Shanghai.
.591: Winning percentage of the 11 opponents.
"That's OK," J.J. Barea said of the busy travel schedule that started Tuesday with the 126-118 loss at Denver. "It'll give us plenty of time to bond."
The Mavericks are going into foxhole mode as they try to fix what ails them on the road, where they fell to 2-11.
That may not be enough, but apart from playing smart and playing well, sticking together through adversity will be the No. 1 test during this spell.
"We got to figure it out," coach Rick Carlisle said. "This trip is a big challenge because of the level of competition, the venues, the scheduling, you name it. In our situation, this is a challenge we need and we need to face it head on and together and bust our butts."
They certainly threw an A-plus offensive showing at the Nuggets. But it was a big fat "F" on the defensive end.
The Nuggets were playing without half of their preferred eight-man rotation with Paul Millsap, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Isaiah Thomas. That hasn't kept the Nuggets from amassing the best record in the Western Conference at 20-9 coming into the game.
They also had the No. 1 3-point shooting defense in the NBA coming in, but that didn't mean much on this night when the defense was clearly optional.
Typical was the last 5 seconds of the first half when Mason Plumlee _ yes, 6-foot-11 Mason Plumlee _ went coast to coast for a layup that put the Nuggets up 74-69.
The Mavericks gave up a ridiculous 40 points in the paint in the first half, which is more than they surrendered in 10 entire games so far.
But it was that kind of game and the Mavericks eventually ran out of gas in the mile-high air.
They had a two-point lead turn into a 105-95 Denver lead in the final minutes of the third quarter. They could not complete the uphill battle after that. Their defense that had been so good up until the last few games again deserted them.
