Refs foul up Nuggets’ victory

No matter how many things the Denver Nuggets did wrong Saturday, they somehow always remained within striking distance of the Dallas Mavericks.

And with a second left, Carmelo Anthony struck.

Anthony broke free of a defender trying to foul him and swished a three-pointer, giving the Nuggets a 106-105 win over the Mavericks at Dallas and a 3-0 series lead that has been insurmountable in NBA history.

After the game, the league admitted that officials made a mistake. In a statement, Joel Litvin, NBA president for league and basketball operations, said “the officials missed an intentional foul.”

Despite missing 15 of their first 17 shots and getting only 10 points from their previously unstoppable center tandem of Nene and Chris Andersen, Denver trailed only 105-101 with 31 seconds left.

Anthony got a quick dunk off an inbounds play, then the Nuggets forced Dirk Nowitzki to miss a 13-footer with about eight seconds remaining. After a timeout, Anthony took an inbounds pass and Dallas’ Antoine Wright tried to foul him -- twice -- since the Mavericks had a foul to give.

Anthony lost his dribble the first time, then bounced off the second bump to find himself wide open. He buried the three-pointer from right in front of the Mavericks’ bench, where everyone was going bonkers over the lack of a foul call. There had been 61 fouls called to that point, keeping either team from ever getting into a flow the entire game.

“I didn’t see a foul,” Nuggets Coach George Karl said. “It seemed like he fumbled the ball.”

Nowitzki didn’t come close on a last-gasp shot at the buzzer. The crowd fell silent, the Nuggets began to celebrate and the Mavericks began to gripe.

Owner Mark Cuban shoved a cameraman and Josh Howard was among several clusters of Dallas players who appeared to be exchanging words with Denver players and staff. Cuban continued his tirade behind the scorer’s table.

“It’s a shame the game had to come down to this, but that’s the way it goes in the NBA sometimes,” Cuban said in an e-mail to the Associated Press after the league’s statement.

“Officiating has to be a science, not an art,” Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said. “If I sit here and belabor this, it’s not going to be good for our league. It’s one of those times where it’s really an unfortunate thing.”

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Cleveland 97, Atlanta 82: LeBron James scored 47 points in his best game yet of this season’s playoffs, leading the Cavaliers to the brink of another postseason sweep.

Back home after two blowout losses in Cleveland, the Hawks put up their best fight of the series. It didn’t matter, not against James. They now find themselves one defeat away from calling it a season, the Cavaliers pushing out to another 3-0 lead after breezing past Detroit in the opening round.

Cleveland set an NBA record with its seventh straight double-figure win to eclipse the mark set by the 2004 Indiana Pacers. The only solace for the Hawks: They stopped Cleveland’s streak of 20-point playoff wins at three.

The Hawks were down only 47-46 at the halftime, and they surged back into their first second-half lead of the series with a 13-0 run in the third quarter. But Zaza Pachulia was ejected for arguing a foul call -- acting as though he might attack the officials -- and Atlanta faded away down the stretch.

James, who also had eight assists, eclipsed his previous high in this year’s playoffs of 38 points against the Pistons, and finished one off his best playoff performance ever, a 48-point game against Detroit while leading Cleveland to its first trip ever to the NBA Finals.

They appear to be on the way again, especially with the league’s most valuable player leading the way.