But a rich effort was sabotaged when they came up bankrupt on defense.

Unable to stop the Denver Nuggets, and without enough firepower to keep up, the Mavericks went down, 124-110, on Wednesday night, eliminated from the Western Conference semifinals, 4-1, by Carmelo Anthony and Co.

A fourth quarter that was begging for drama went south for the Mavericks when, after pulling within 103-97, Anthony reared up from 25 feet with the shot clock about to expire and flipped in a 3-pointer with 6:35 to go. The Mavericks would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

It was a crazy exclamation point to what turned out to be a rout. Not necessarily the final game but the series. The Mavericks fell behind 3-0, made one brave stand at home to avoid the sweep, then simply didn't have enough to win a game in Denver.

"We weren't very good defensively all year long," said Dirk Nowitzki. "That's where a lot of our ups and downs came from. Even tonight, giving up 124 in an elimination game, it's tough to win. We scored 110, which should be enough to win the game. But we couldn't keep people in front of us.''

By the end, the "Beat LA, Beat LA'' chants were in full swing as the Denver fans awaited their team's first trip to the Western Conference finals since 1985 and only their second ever. The Los Angeles Lakers own a 3-2 lead over Houston in the other West semifinal.

The Mavericks won't be happy with the results of this season, but there can be no doubt they were beaten by a better team. They got sparkling showings from Nowitzki, who had 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Jason Kidd, who led a 3-point barrage in the third quarter that kept the Mavericks close. He finished with 19 points and nine assists.

But the Nuggets had an answer for everything. Anthony had 30 points, the third consecutive time he reached that plateau. And Chauncey Billups was remarkable with 28 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

The offensive numbers for the Nuggets were mind-numbing. They had 50 points in the paint to 36 for the Mavericks . They won the rebound game convincingly and had 16 fast-break points to six for Dallas.

The Nuggets were bigger, faster and stronger than the Mavericks .

"That team,'' said Jason Terry, "has a chance to win the whole thing.''

Including the regular season, the Nuggets went 8-1 against the Mavericks . The Mavericks looked back to the controversial ending of Game 3 as a turning point. But in reality, they knew what the bottom line was.

"In the final analysis, Denver's the better team,'' Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "When you're involved with a franchise like the Mavericks , anything short of a championship isn't good enough. But I'm real proud of the fight. Even though we didn't win the series, our spirit was never questioned. And I think that's important.''

In many ways, Carlisle said, Anthony's 3-pointer that beat the shot clock "was a microcosm of the series.'' The Mavericks were close in so many ways, yet Denver always made the critical play.

"If I told you I knew it was going in, I'd be lying,'' said Anthony. But that was a spark.''

Even at the end, when Antoine Wright gave a strong shove to J.R. Smith, the message that mattered had already been sent.

"They called us every name in the book,'' Anthony said. "We overcame that and buckled down on defense.''

Which was the one thing the Mavericks couldn't do.

Paint by numbers

Easy shots were the difference in the series. The team with the most points in the paint won the game:

Gm Points in paint Final

1 Denver, 58-30 109-95

2 Denver,50-34 117-105

3 Denver, 48-34 106-105

4 Dallas, 42-34 119-117

5 Denver, 50-36 124-110