Wednesday, January 09, 2002 - DALLAS - Moral victory has no meaning to the Denver Nuggets. As far as they see it, the moral to any moral victory is, a loss is still a loss.

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Strong numbers: Nuggets guard Nick Van Exel scored 27 of his 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting in the second half. Swingman James Posey grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds. Forward Raef LaFrentz posted a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. After being outrebounded by 26 on Monday night at Charlotte, Denver outrebounded Dallas 52-37.

Wrong numbers: Twelve of Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki's 27 points came on free throws. The Nuggets had to come from behind as Dallas held a 52-40 lead at the half.

Next: Cleveland, 7 p.m. Thursday at the Pepsi Center.

Final thought: Remember that Kermit the Frog song, "It's Not Easy Being Green"? The Nuggets can relate.

Such was the case Tuesday night as the Nuggets suffered a 95-94 heartbreaker to the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Denver has lost three of its past four games by two points or fewer.

"An "L' is an "L,' " said Nuggets point guard Nick Van Exel, who scored 27 of his 31 points in the second half.

With 1:16 left in the game, the Nuggets led 92-87 after a jumper by Raef LaFrentz (24 points, 11 rebounds).

But with the Nuggets up 92-89, Van Exel turned over the ball with 40.8 seconds left. Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, who had 27 points, followed by making a 3-pointer with 33.2 seconds left to tie the game.

The Nuggets' Avery Johnson responded with a driving layup with 19.8 seconds left to restore Denver's lead at 94-92. So Johnson saved the day, right?

Well, not exactly. The 7-foot Nowitzki was being guarded in the clutch by 6-9 Ryan Bowen. With time running out, Nowitzki had the ball and Bowen had no help in sight. Nowitzki pump-faked and took a short jumper in front of the free-throw line. The overmatched Bowen tapped him on the arm with 6.7 seconds left. The whistle blew. Nowitzki's shot rolled around the rim and went down. The likely Western Conference all-star from Germany followed by sinking the free throw to give Dallas a one-point lead.