Mavericks hosting Nikola Jokic, Nuggets in final game before Christmas

It's a battle of teams on the second night of a back-to-back, as the Dallas Mavericks meet the Denver Nuggets at home on Tuesday night. Dallas is coming off a blown double-digit fourth-quarter lead to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, while the Nuggets completely dominated the Utah Jazz at home on the same night.

These two teams met at the start of the month, and the Mavericks came away with an improbable 131-121 win, as Anthony Davis lit up the scoreboard for 32 points and 13 rebounds, and Cooper Flagg was impressive with 24 points and 8 rebounds. However, the big difference-maker in that game was Ryan Nembhard going for 28 points and 10 assists on an efficient 12/14 shooting.

Part of the reason the Mavericks haven't been playing as well recently is that teams have started to limit Nembhard. In his last five games, he's averaging 6.2 PPG and 7.2 APG. In the six games before that, he was averaging 14.8 PPG and 6.8 APG. His playmaking is still a big reason that the offense has looked much better in the last few weeks, but teams are hunting him on defense, and they're limiting his scoring opportunities. He'll keep playing because they need that ball movement, but his starting role may not be safe.

Dec 1, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard (9) gestures as he dribbles the ball up court in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Anthony Davis is coming off the best games of his career against one of his former teams, putting up 35 points and 17 rebounds against the Pelicans. However, it came in a loss. The Pelicans are rolling, but that kind of performance should've been good enough for a win.

The Nuggets lost on Sunday to the Houston Rockets in a thrilling game, but that's the only other time they've lost this month besides the loss to the Mavs on the 1st. They're still playing well despite injuries to Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon, and that's because Nikola Jokic is still the best player in the world (arguably).

In the month of December, Jokic is averaging 28.7 PPG, 11.6 RPG, and 10.4 APG. His three-point shooting isn't as otherworldly as it was in November, but he's still shooting it at a really high level. Jokic going against Anthony Davis tonight should be an exciting battle.