Gimme some typical!

Well, no actually, don't give me some typical.

But that's what the Mavs did last night, with a typical loss to a good team.

It wasn't just the fact that they lost. Hell, I was OK with the Spurs loss. Well, as OK as you can be after a heartbreaker at home, but we'll let that one lie.

No, this one was typical because it featured a classic Mavs model of losing:

• Ice cold start from the field. The Mavs missed their first five shots, and only managed four points in the first four and a half minutes, leading to a 15-point first quarter.
  
• Conversely, the Nuggets came out swinging. Billups, Anthony, Martin, even DANHTAY FREAKING JONES was throwing down dunks.
  
• The Mavs make it semi-respectable by halftime, and then make a great third quarter run, eventually tying the game at 65.

And here's where it became the most depressing kind of typical Mavs game ever, one I have seen too many of.

The Nuggets have the ball, tied at 65. The crowd is getting into it, Dirk has sunk a few buckets, even George is draining the three-ball.

'Melo misses a jumper, Dirk gets the rebound, and tried to hit George in transition. George isn't paying attention, 'Melo gets the steal.

Now, I knew the Nuggets would hit a three-pointer on this possession. I knew it with every breath in my body.

But the thing about the Mavs is, they like to toy with you. Billups missed a 3-pointer that he makes all the time, and I dared to hope.

Foolish me, Chris Andersen takes a break from blowing lines on the bench (cheap shot, I know, what do you want from me?) and gets the offensive rebound, then finds 'Melo for the three, which were his only points of the quarter.

Dallas stayed close for another three-and-a-half minutes, getting within one, but the deficit turned into three, then five, finally ending the quarter down by four, 75-71.

The Nuggets then proceeded to open up the fourth with a 12-2 run, putting our heroes down for the rest of the game.

Except for, oh, I don't know, a FOUR MINUTE STRETCH where the only points from either team was a pair of free throws from both Nene and Kidd.

Now, this a situation you couldn't have drawn up better.

The Nuggets shot the lights out for most of the game, while Dallas did the opposite. If you can hold them to two points in a four-minute stretch, then you should be able to close the distance, especially if you are holding onto championship aspirations.

But the Mavs churned out:

• 2 turnovers
• Four missed shots (two threes, two layups)
• 1 blocked shot
• A partridge in a pear tree (except replace 'partridge' with 'basketball' and 'pear tree' with 'not in the basket')

The three-PG lineup that was so dynamic for most of the homestand seems to be stale.

While it's been fun to see the Mavs go 5-2, Antoine Wright, Gerald Green, James Singleton, and Shawne Williams, all of whom have looked promising, haven't been getting minutes.

Here's their minute counts for the 7-game homestand:

• Gerald Green: 8
• James Singleton: 2
• Shawne Williams: 79 (played 4 games)
  
• Antoine Wright: 36 (played 2 games)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a Mavericks bench that, while it has faltered at times, also stood up very well to the Lakers, who have to be considered the benchmark that Western teams are measured by.

These are all young guys (at 27, Singleton is the oldest, the next oldest is 23) who need minutes to develop into players.

Youth is supposed to be something the Mavs are pushing, especially since Dirk just hit 30 and J-Kidd is waging a losing battle with Father Time.

Hopefully Carlisle will learn from what transpired during the homestand. While they went 5-2, they lost to both of the good teams they played.

In fact, the only wins this season that the Mavs have had against good teams were against the Yao-less Rockets, the Manu-less Spurs and the soul-less Suns.

In closing, I leave you with a hilarious quote from Carlisle regarding last night's shooting performance, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News MavsBlog:

"We couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle. When you're not guarding them and not making shots, you're going to suck."