to-face, mano-a-mano Star Wars lightsabers duel between Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki.

Nowitzki edged Anthony.

The Mavericks edged the Nuggets .

This was Frazier-Ali, Connors-McEnroe, Gibson-Drysdale, Ben-Hur-Messala, Skywalker-Vader, Russell-Chamberlain, Magic-Bird.

Staring down, looking up.

Point for point, rebound for rebound, big play for big play.

Basketball is a team game, but there was an individual clash of the titans Monday night that was epic and classic, a pleasure to watch, an amusement park ride, a test of wills, drives and jumpers. If you don't like that, collect butterflies.

Nowitzki and the Mavericks rallied to escape with their first victory of the series. The Nuggets , who escaped in Game 3, can take it at home.

Nobody should have felt bad late on Monday night. Especially not Dirk and Melo.

By the numbers:

Carmelo finished with 41 points, 11 rebounds, three

assists and five steals.

Dirk finished with 44 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.

Two astonishing efforts by two amazing players.

"Dirk seemed like a man on a mission tonight," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He's an unbelievable player."

Melo, too.

"He's Carmelo. He's a big-

time scorer," Karl said. "I'm not disappointed. Dallas is one of the top four teams in the conference. So we're supposed to beat them four straight? ? I think you'll see a committed and angry team on Wednesday."

Anthony, with his postseason personal best, played his heart out for 43 1/2 minutes. He got offensive help from Chauncey Billups (24 points) and J.R. Smith (19), but nobody else. Nowitzki, with the third-highest point total in team history (he has the top two, FYI), got 21 points from Josh Howard, and that was about it.

Two to Tango.

"Big game for a big guy," Howard said.

Maybe it's only right that the Mavs get one victory in this series.

Before Game 4, Dallas' Jason Terry was saying: "We are going to be the first (NBA) team in history to come back from a 3-0 deficit."

Anthony was saying: "We want to win four in a row."

Among other important things, the Nuggets and the Mavs were dealing with such items as:

Mark Cuban's sarcastic remark after Game 3 to Kenyon Martin's mother; Martin suggesting on Monday morning that he would deal with Cuban (but it didn't happen before, during or after Game 4); the mysterious stomach pains suffered by Chris Andersen that kept him out of the game and off the floor; the aftershocks of the Curious Case of the No-Call Intentional in the previous game; the two flagrant fouls called against the Mavericks on Monday night; the technical foul called against Carmelo after he open-handedly swiped at Antoine Wright's face; the re-

appearance of rapper Lil Wayne, who showed up in Denver to cheer on New Orleans but arrived in Dallas to cheer on the Nuggets .

The intrigue between Anthony and Wright continued from the end of Game 3. Wright - who was trying to intentionally give a foul at the end of the game on Saturday that Orville and Wilbur would have been ashamed of - finally figured how to foul with 11:15 remaining in the second quarter. Wright got tangled with Anthony under the basket, wrapped his arm around Melo's elbow, yanked and declined to let go. Anthony then tried to slap Wright but barely brushed the guard's cheek.

Anthony ended up with a technical, Wright with a standard foul.

With 6:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, the two were in an MMA match again, and Wright drew the technical (and his fifth foul).

The referees, led by Steve Javie, who has a long and undistinguished relationship with the Nuggets , called seven technicals. This series will not be remembered for quality officiating.

The fouls were down just a shade, from 61 in Game 3 to 58 on Monday night.

The intensity was up. But the Nuggets' defense was off.

And then there was Melo and Dirk.

Nowitzki was the reason the Mavs won, but Anthony wasn't the reason the Nuggets lost.

Two terrific players, one terrific game.

Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com