NBA champion Dallas looked nothing like the team that lifted the trophy last June as it stumbled to a second defeat in as many nights Monday, this time to the Denver Nuggets. Denver hammered the hapless Mavericks 115-93, a day after the Miami Heat routed them in their Christmas Day season-opener in a rematch of last season's championship series. Dallas trailed Denver 97-68 after three quarters and were down by as many as 33 points in the final period. “Obviously, we look old and slow and out of shape,” said Dirk Nowitzki, the Most Valuable Player of the NBA finals. “That's a bad combination. I still think this team has a lot of potential. We just need to work.” Coach Rick Carlisle shouldered much of the blame. “It's on all of us, but it's on me more than anybody, not having these guys ready to play,” Carlisle said. “I've got to look at this very closely and then come Wednesday we've got to go back at it.” The extended lockout that delayed the start of the season until December has every team struggling to hit their stride with little pre-season preparation. But Carlisle said that was no excuse for a performance that had fans booing their title-holding team. The compressed 66-game schedule means each team faces a more demanding fixture list than normal. Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are getting an early taste of that intensity with three games in as many days to open the season. They lost the first by one-point to Chicago, and the second a day later in a 100-91 defeat to the Kings in Sacramento. That matched their poorest opening to a campaign for nine years. Now they must try to regroup for their home game Tuesday against Utah. The Orlando Magic, beaten at Oklahoma City Sunday, bounced back with a 104-95 home win over Houston. The Thunder notched their second win in as many nights, defeating Minnesota 104-100 to deny the Timberwolves' Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio a victory in his long-anticipated NBA debut. The 20-year-old Rubio, who made his Spanish league debut at the age of 14, was drafted by the Timberwolves in the 2009 NBA draft but had spent the last two years at Barcelona. Other results: Charlotte 96, Milwaukee 95; Toronto 104, Cleveland 96; Indiana 91, Detroit 79; New Jersey 90, Washington 84; San Antonio 95, Memphis 82; New Orleans 85, Phoenix 84; Portland 107, Philadelphia 103; Golden State 99, Chicago 91.
