Nikola Jokic's Nuggets Handily Defeat Luka Doncic's Mavs
DENVER — The Dallas Mavericks finished up their schedule prior to the NBA All-Star break with a 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. With their third consecutive loss, the Mavs drop to 31-29 on the season. The Nuggets improve to 41-18, extending their lead over the rest of the Western Conference.
With Luka Doncic carrying the Mavs throughout the first quarter, he finished with 17 points, three rebounds, and three assists alone. Most of the offense was unable to Dallas managed to trail just 26-25 through the end of the first quarter.
A familiar issue the Mavs faced resurfaced with Kyrie Irving being a late scratch from the game. The team proved unable to stay afloat in non-Luka minutes as they were outscored by a nine-point margin by the time he checked back into the game. The flow of the game didn't go in their favor from that point on, as they were outscored 35-19 in the second period. Dallas trailed 61-44 at halftime.
"You look at the second quarter there, the start, they went on a 11-2 run. Give them credit, their bench is good and for that, we kind of let the game get away," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "It's a one-point game after one [quarter], on the road, you're sitting in a good place against the best team in the West. We have to do a better job and starting that second quarter, we got off to a really slow start."
There was a clear void left behind by Irving being unable to play. Josh Green proved entirely unable to fill a secondary initiator role in his place, often not even looking at the rim on drives against a bigger Nuggets unit. The onus was placed on Doncic to generate offense for the group as a whole.
The Nuggets maintained a double-figure lead for the whole third quarter, but used a 6-1 run late in the period to extend their advantage to 19 points, prompting the Mavs to call timeout at the 3:36 mark. Doncic continued to make plays while Dallas proved unable to get defensive stops. He had already totaled 34 points through the end of the period, but his team trailed 92-74 entering the fourth quarter.
After entering the fourth quarter with only two points, Christian Wood scored 15 of his 17 points down the stretch to repeatedly keep the Mavs at a 10-point deficit after Nuggets made field goals. However, the Nuggets managed to re-established a 15-point lead with 4:42 left in regulation.
“I think in the fourth, they went up again, and then four minutes to go, we came back to 10 again, but they scored some shots, and they win,” Doncic said.
Managing to achieve a win at Ball Arena has been a major challenge for just about any team that enters through its doors. The Nuggets have now won 20 consecutive home games and are 27-4 at home on the season.
Doncic finished with 37 points, four rebounds, nine assists, and four steals. The only other double-figure scorers for the Mavs included Wood (17), McKinley Wright IV (11), A.J. Lawson (10). Dallas allowed 64 points in the paint once again, furthering a concerning defensive trend of an inability to contain the opponent in the interior. The Nuggets also scored 19 fast-break points.
Jokic's night ended with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, but only nine shot attempts from the floor. Jeff Green led the Nuggets in scoring with 24 points, while Michael Porter Jr. wasn't far behind with 22. They had six double-figure scorers in the game despite Jamal Murray being sidelined.
“I think there’s a lot of great teams, but obviously, with a guy like Jokic, they obviously are probably the favorite," Doncic said. "It’s so hard to play against him. When you have a guy like Jokic on your team, you’re the favorite, always.”
The Mavs return to action on Feb. 23 when they take on the San Antonio Spurs at the American Airlines. It will mark their first game coming out of the NBA All-Star break.
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