The Denver Nuggets started hot and then promptly fell on their faces, losing 131-121 to the Mavericks in the kind of loss that feels all-too-familiar by now to Nuggets fans. Jamal Murray twisted his ankle right before the half and had to go back to the locker room a couple of times in the second half, eventually not to return. Bruce Brown played sick. But the Mavericks shed no tears for Denver and came back from down 17 early by scoring so easily in the last 3 quarters that it made me sick too honestly. Jokic had a 29 point, 20 rebound, 13 assist triple-double but also resorted to bricking threes in the fourth quarter because he was out of energy. Spencer Jones had a career-high 28 points for Denver, but the Nuggets just couldn’t stop anybody when it mattered.
Anthony Davis had 32 points and 13 boards, rookie Cooper Flagg added 24 points and 8 rebounds, and two-way player Ryan Nembhard lit Denver up for 28 points as Dallas shot 56% from the field and 52% from deep. The Nuggets now go on the road where they have played much better, and hopefully that will continue because these home losses have been tragic.
Game Flow
Denver started with a couple of quick buckets after stops, with Jamal getting a three and Jokic hitting a transition floater. Anthony Davis and Peyton Watson exchanged buckets at the rim, and then Cooper Flagg missed a three while Spencer Jones scored in transition. AD hit a long 2, Spencer Jones bounced in a 3 and then buried one from the other corner as Dallas left him open for an early 15-4 Denver lead. Out of a timeout, Watson got a deflection on a Flagg shot that turned into a Jones bucket via goaltend as Denver kept defending hard and running in transition off every Dallas miss. Jones got yet another bucket for his 12th point in the first 5 minutes off a Jokic feed, then hit a floater rolling to the hoop. Dallas got a free throw and finally a dunk from Davis, then Flagg finished a traditional 3-point play for the Mavs. Jokic made a floater-and-one, then finished past AD the next time down. Dallas hit a pair of threes, Denver answered with a Hardaway layup and a Jamal Murray dunk. Watson blocked shots on back-to-back possessions but got blocked himself, and Klay Thompson buried a 3 to cut Denver’s lead to 10. Jokic hit a 15 foot jumper, then a three, which Naji Marshall answered with a jumper of his own. THJ swished a Denver pullup and Denver finished the quarter up 41-27.
Jonas Valanciunas took over at center for the second quarter and immediately hit a couple of buckets while grabbing his own misses in the process. Anthony Davis hit a pull-up and Marshall buried a 3 for Dallas, but Big Val went back to the glass to beat the Dallas zone. Zeke Nnaji fouled Klay on a three-point shot but Klay only made one, Bruce Brown had a traditional 3-point play, but then Dallas got back to the line and both D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis hit shots to cut Denver’s lead to 9 at 50-41. Spencer Jones came back in and immediately hit another 3, Ryan Nembhard hit a bucket but Big Val and Brucie B made great buckets in return (the latter off a 360-assist from Murray) that forced a timeout. Murray got free throws, Russell hit a jumper, and Bruce Brown tipped in a miss to push Denver’s lead back to 14. Dallas hit a couple of jumpers right before Joker came back in, Watson missed a corner three and a Russell for the Mavs turned into a Joker bankshot. Denver struggled with some extra physicality from Dallas and some poor turnovers as Flagg’s bucket cut the lead to 63-58. Christie’s three gave Dallas 12-of-14 made buckets in the second quarter and another Anthony Davis bucket tied the game at 63 with Dallas on a 16-2 run. Cam Johnson missed a three and then was called for a charge the next time down as Denver couldn’t get anything going. The Nuggets gave up 42 points in the second to Dallas, and with Cam Johnson’s final shot not beating the buzzer Denver trailed 69-68 at the half.
The third quarter opened with misses from both teams, before Cam Johnson finished at the rim through contact. Jamal Murray twisted his ankle in the first half and then hurt it again in the first minute of the third and went straight back to the locker room. Watson and Nembhard exchanged buckets, THJ stepped into a two-pointer, and Nembhard buried another 3 to give him 17 already. Jokic responded with a 3 of his own, Davis hit an 18 footer, and Cam nailed a pullup to keep Denver up 3. Flagg finished at the rim, Hardaway answered, but no one could slow Nembhard. Jokic got his triple-double with 5 minutes gone in the quarter, Jamal came back with his ankle more heavily taped, and Spencer Jones faked a three then drove for a monster dunk. Nembhard hit another pair of shots and Flagg made a quick layup to give Dallas the lead back at 88-86. Nembhard kept scoring, Watson and Flagg exchanged threes, and a great save by Spencer Jones led to a Hardaway 3. Watson dunked, Klay Thompson answered right back with a 3, and a Flagg transition dunk made it 98-96 Dallas. Jokic got himself to the line, Powell answered with a layup, and Jokic Euro-stepped to a bucket. Hardaway swished a Denver pullup, Jokic got a block then got back to the charity stripe and Denver took a 2-point lead into the 4th quarter, 104-102.
Cam Johnson hit a turnaround 3 to open the scoring in the fourth. AD finished over Valanciunas, Brown missed a shot and Marshall got a transition bucket. Spencer Jones hit a corner 3 for Denver, Davis hit another 18-footer, but missed his next attempt and Jones dunked again. AD hit a corner 3, THJ missed his, and Bruce got a technical for saying “What the f- you watching?” and he was right to say it, as the refs refused to call a bunch of the Dallas hacks. It didn’t help Denver though as Dallas retook the lead on a Russell 3. Watson finished a driving layup, Klay Thompson hit a 3 that Jokic answered in return, and Watson missed a jumper in the paint. Thompson’s layup put Dallas up 3, and Jokic missed his own 3. Bruce Brown missed another layup in place of Jamal, who had to go back to the locker room for the ankle again. Cam Johnson and Spencer Jones both missed threes, Jokic missed again and Denver just went cold on offense as both teams looked tired. Flagg made a bank shot for Dallas though to push the lead to 122-117 for the Mavericks, then made an easy transition layup. Denver bricked every three, no movement on offense, and Nembhard put Dallas up 9 with 2 minutes left after an 18-5 Dallas run. Dallas hit another 3, Watson hit a couple of dunks to close it to 8 with just over a minute left, but it was too little too late. Dallas won going away, 131-121.
Final Thoughts
–The Nuggets aren’t serious. The method to beat this injured Denver squad is clear: just score with them and they will fold late. They don’t show any heart or fight down the stretch, they don’t have players that play together on defense, and you can stop them in the closing minutes more easily than they can stop you. Losing 4 straight at home the way Denver has lost these games is unacceptable. Bring up G-Leaguers if this is how Denver’s main players are going to give effort on defense. Jokic plus any 4 guys can score, but they certainly can’t defend – so find some players willing to defend the three point line. Denver gave up 131 points to the team with the worst Offensive Rating in the league.
Malone used to have a phrase: “make them feel us.” Nobody feels Denver on defense at all, in any of these games. Dallas beat up Denver all game, to the point that Bruce Brown got a technical complaining about the uncalled physicality, but the Nuggets have neither the energy nor the will on defense to make the extra rotation, to cover out to the three-point line, or to get into the grill of any ball-handler. Until Denver gets serious about giving energy on both sides of the court it doesn’t really matter who is out there. Getting beat back in transition by every team they play, tagging down into the paint to leave every three point shot wide open, butchering rotations and not recovering… The Nuggets simply are not displaying the will to win.
They’re weak. Until they decide to play like there’s a championship in mind instead of a night out and a nap, they will continue to lose these games despite having the talent to win. They’d better find the right mentality fast – all these games count in the standings.
