DENVER — Kenyon Martin leaves no doubt about his desire to cover Dirk Nowitzki in this series.

And anybody who thinks coach George Karl is fibbing when he says he'll play Martin straight up on Nowitzki has to take the matter up with the Denver power forward.

"I don't need help, I can guard him," Martin said Saturday in matter-of-fact tone. "I can guard anybody in this league. I'm not going to shut everybody out. But I can guard anybody in this league.

"I've got six fouls. They give you six for a reason. I'm not afraid to use my fouls."

This is the way Martin and the Nuggets roll. They are supremely confident in their ability to frustrate, if not dominate.

"I'm not going to shut him out," added Martin, a Bryan Adams High School product. "I'm just going to try to make it as tough as possible."

Nowitzki expects nothing less. When asked if one-on-one defense makes his eyes light up, he decided to play coy.

"I know K-Mart is a tough defender," Nowitzki said. "I'm just going to be aggressive and see what happens.

"Sometimes he guards me well. Sometimes I got the best of him. That's what the best of players do. They take the challenge.

"I just think there are fun matchups all over the court. Should be a great series for the fans."

Ready for intimidation:

The Mavericks'

Ryan Hollins knows he can go for long stretches without playing. And then, he'll have to go in against somebody who outweighs him by 50 pounds or more.

"That's the way it is," he said. "I'll be in if their best player is at my position. I only get the very top of the line."

This time, he'll get a string of Denver brutes, including Nene, Martin and Chris Andersen.

The slender backup center knows that Denver will try to use intimidation.

"If you're a weak player and you're on the floor, they will prey on that," he said. "Their guys are so good at using their aggression and playing hard, they'll feed on you if you're weak. So definitely, if you don't come with the right intensity, it can be a factor."

Suits them to a tee:

The Mavericks hope to be playing through the Nuggets over the next couple weeks. And their golf season is a long way off, they hope.

But coach Rick Carlisle couldn't help but use a golf analogy when asked about having to start the series in Denver.

"It's kind of like playing in a golf tournament," he said. "If the greens are Bermuda grass, then Bermuda grass has to be your favorite kind of grass that day.

"We're going to be on the road throughout the playoffs. So, we have to embrace the challenge. You're going to have to win on the road to win the series. It's tough. But that's what it's about."

Turnover bug:

Carlisle said there will be a fine line in finding the right tempo this series.

What the Mavericks cannot do is make a lot of errors with the basketball.

"New Orleans turned the ball over a lot and they got killed in this building," he said. "We're a running team. We can't just walk it up. But we can't be willy-nilly, either."

New Orleans committed 18.4 turnovers in the first round to just 12.6 for Denver.