Dallas (22-15) has opened a three-game road trip by losing back-to-back games for the first time since its five-game skid from Nov. 7-14.

Howard, an All-Star in 2007 and the Mavericks' third-leading scorer with 18.1 points per game, sprained his left wrist in the third quarter of a 128-100 loss to Phoenix on Friday night and missed Sunday night's 102-95 loss to Sacramento.

Jason Terry stepped up with 33 points on 14-for-24 shooting against the Kings, but Dirk Nowitzki was held to 15 on 6-for-18 shooting as Dallas fell to 9-5 without Howard this season.

"We are obviously missing Josh, but we have to play better," Nowitzki said. "They double team me on the post regularly, but I still have to make more than six shots. I had some great looks, but it was just a tough night shooting the ball."

Howard, who missed two games in November with an injury to the same wrist before missing 11 more with an ankle injury, will be on the sideline Tuesday before returning to Dallas to have his wrist re-examined. His return is uncertain.

The Mavericks hope Howard's diagnosis is better than that of Anthony, who's expected to miss at least two more weeks with a broken bone in his right hand.

The Nuggets (25-13) had a five-game winning streak snapped with a 93-90 loss to Detroit on Friday night, falling to 4-3 without Anthony, who suffered the injury in a win over Indiana on Jan. 5.

Chauncey Billups scored 30 points and went 11-for-19 from the field in his first game against the Pistons since they traded him to Denver in November, but the rest of the Nuggets combined to shoot 35.8 percent in Denver's fifth loss in 19 home games.

The Nuggets, who haven't dropped consecutive games at the Pepsi Center since Feb. 5 and 7, 2007, hope to rebound against a Mavericks team they've already defeated twice this season. Denver held off a Dallas rally to win 108-105 at home Nov. 7 before taking a 98-88 victory on the road Dec. 15.

Nowitzki delivered a double-double in each of those games, and is averaging 27.8 points and 10.8 rebounds during a streak of six straight double-doubles against Denver. Despite Nowitzki's success, the Mavericks have dropped five of their last six against the Nuggets.

Denver's strong play against Dallas, though, has been largely dependent on Anthony. Since drafting the two-time All-Star in 2003, the Nuggets are 0-3 against the Mavericks when he doesn't play. They've lost 11 straight games against Dallas without Anthony since a 102-100 home victory Jan. 27, 2001.

Reserve guard J.R. Smith could help the Nuggets snap that skid. He led the team with 25 points - two more than Anthony - in the Nuggets' win Dec. 15, and is averaging 16.3 points off the bench in his last four games against Dallas.