Eduardo Najera started his Thursday just like every game day this season. He ran some sprints. He did a few drills. He prepared to watch from the sideline in jeans and a shirt.

Until a couple hours before the Mavericks' game against Denver, when Najera learned he would actually be playing instead of sitting. And then?
"Najera to the rescue," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said.

In his first game since being activated from the injured list, the second-year player picked up where he left off last season ? as the Mavericks' bench spark and team energizer. This time he helped the Mavericks slide past a pesky Denver Nuggets team, 105-91.

Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki continued his torrid shooting in netting a game-high 33 points, Steve Nash rendered the league's second-leading scorer ineffective, and the Mavericks improved to 5-1 in front of 17,471 at American Airlines Center, a start that equals the franchise's best.