In his best game of the season, Jamal Murray put up 45 points and 6 assists to lead the Denver Nuggets to a win over the Dallas Mavericks 118-99. It really was the Jamal Murray show, as no one else on either team scored more than 13 points. Nikola Jokic had a triple double with 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists on a night where he crossed the 5000-assist mark and set some records himself, but nothing could take the spotlight off Murray, who was in a flow state the whole first half with 32 points in just the first two quarters to lead Denver to its fourth win in a row. Daniel Gafford led Dallas with 13 points and Kyrie Irving had 11 points but just 2 assists as the Mavericks lost both games on their home floor to the Nuggets and are now finished with that matchup in the regular season.
Game Flow
Klay Thompson missed a three for Dallas to open the game but Derrick Lively dunked home a drive. MPJ missed a three for Denver but buried his second deep attempt. Russell Westbrook stole the ball but Jamal Murray couldn’t convert the transition 3. Russ had his drive blocked by Lively, Kyrie Irving missed a layup and Jokic got the ball out to Christian Braun for the transition finish. Lively dunked another one but then landed on Jokic’s foot and did not return, Braun missed a corner 3, and Jokic slung the ball out to Jamal for a 3 out of a double-team. Daniel Gafford made a paint bucket over Jokic, Porter missed a long step-back, and Jamal hit an off-the-dribble three. MPJ’s pull-up made it 16-6 Denver early as Dallas could not connect and started 3-for-14 from the field. Mal then assisted Westbrook on a 3, and then Russ was called for a screening foul on what would have been another MPJ bucket. Murray’s drive and dish to MPJ for a dunk was pretty, and Murray then answered Irving’s bank shot with a nice 13-footer. Irving made another as he started to heat up thanks to Peyton Watson getting called on a close goaltend, Jamal missed a heat-check three, but had free throws the next time down and then made yet another jumper. Spencer Dinwiddie converted a traditional three point play, answered by Watson’s corner three. Jokic took and made his first shot from near the free throw line with 2 minutes left in the quarter. Watson missed his next three, Gafford finished an oop from Jaden Hardy, and DeAndre Jordan turned the ball over. Julian Strawther had to foul Gafford to stop another dunk for Dallas and a final halfcourt shot from Dallas didn’t beat the buzzer, but behind Jamal Murray’s 19 points and 3 assists the Nuggets led 36-21 after one.
DeAndre Jordan got to the line for Denver and made one, Strawther missed a 3, and Klay Thompson traveled trying to break down Denver’s stiff defense. Aaron Gordon missed a tough drive but stayed with it for a couple tip attempts for the bucket. AG got fouled inside his next time down to get to the line and his free throws put Denver up 41-21. Gordon got back to the line on a Thompson foul and after Jordan stifled the Mavs anywhere near the rim, Klay finally got his first bucket by burying a 3. The Mavs went to a zone and Westbrook found Jordan for a dunk, then missed the next dunk. Third time down Russ and DJ hooked up for another dunk to put the lead back to 20, then Jordan cleaned up a Westbrook miss after some Irving free throws. Quentin Grimes made a Dallas 3, Jordan got fouled on yet another close attempt, and Denver stayed firmly in control up 50-32. Murray came back in and immediately hit a stepback to answer a Kyrie pullup. Jamal turned it over, Watson blocked the Dallas transition attempt, and Jamal’s 2 was answered by a Kleber 3. A great Watson oop finish was overturned by a foul but Watson made his free throws, and Murray made yet another bucket as he stayed on fire the whole first half. Jokic buried a three, MPJ grabbed a defensive rebound but missed a pullup, and Jokic kept altering shots and grabbing boards. Jokic found Murray on a tipped pass for a 3 and Denver was up 64-39. Murray had 32 points in the first half, a career first, and Dallas had only 6 points in the final 4 minutes of the quarter. MPJ answered a Dinwiddie 3 with one of his own, and even a Klay 3 in the final seconds couldn’t dent Denver’s 71-45 halftime beatdown.
Jokic opened the third quarter scoring with a floating jumper, Klay answered for Dallas but Jamal’s 12-foot pullup kept Denver playing on all cylinders. Jokic got to the line for a free throw, Westbrook hit a deep jumper on a Jokic assist, and then Christian Braun’s block led to a Westbrook layup attempt where he was fouled by Kleber. Westbrook hit his free throws, Kleber made a putback, and Russ had a beautiful cut to the basket to finish a Jokic assist. Kleber made a three trying to help Dallas made a run and Murray had a rare miss, while MPJ’s pass attempt to Jokic in the paint resulted in a turnover. PJ Washington had a transition drive to the bucket to make it 82-56 Denver and force a Nuggets timeout. Murray backed down Dinwiddie dribble by dribble into the paint and then floated up an easy finish, matched by Kyrie’s rim finish. Westbrook missed a three, Braun tapped in his own transition miss, and Russ missed a finish off a great one-handed curl pass from Jokic. Murray found MPJ for a 3, but Jokic missed a paint bucket and Strawther missed a three on the Jokic kickout. Watson blew a transition bucket, AG affected a Gafford shot, and Jokic finally got his triple-double by making a transition bucket. Gafford finished a drive for Dallas, Murray missed his for Denver, and though Denver’s offense went cold from the field the Nuggets only lost the quarter by 2 thanks to consistent defense and went to the fourth up 91-67.
AG missed a three for Denver and Naji Marshall finished a traditional three point play for Dallas to open the final frame. Murray made a nice floater but Marshall had another pair of buckets for the Mavericks as their energy level picked up. Murray had a couple of turnovers, and Dallas hit a three to close to within 16 and force a Denver timeout. Dallas went on a 10-0 run before Strawther made a three off a Murray assist. Peyton Watson had his shot blocked by Olivier-Maxence Prosper, but Murray made a tough stepback for his 40th point and AG finished a turnaround jumper to take the lead back to 21 at 100-79. Murray hit a transition three off an MPJ steal and assist, and then Peyton Watson his a thunderous dunk. Grimes made a three for Dallas but Jamal responded with a paint layup. Murray missed a couple of threes and MPJ missed a one-handed putback dunk, but the Nuggets had it locked down and the only starter still on the court in the final minutes was Christian Braun as Denver coasted to victory 118-99.
Final Thoughts
– Jamal Murray. Nothing else, because what is there to say? Murray’s season-high to this point was 34 points and he had 32 by the half. Just an incredible offensive explosion, but it wasn’t just the buckets. Jamal was hustling on defense, still making passes and setting screens. It was an incredible show but within the principles of what Denver tries to do. Murray just made every single thing early, with just 3 misses on 15 first-half shots. His game was decisive and energetic, without a lot of wasted movement or over-dribbling. He took advantage of every gap he saw and shot over, around and through any defense the Mavs put out there.
There has been a lot of noise around Jamal this year, but as he’s gotten healthier his play has gotten better, and Russell Westbrook finding his groove with Jokic frees Jamal up to do what he wants. He was hot early and Denver made sure to get the ball in his hands. Jokic took two shots in the first half but cleaned the boards and locked up assists as he cleared the way for Jamal’s hottest start to a game in his career. It was a beautiful example of who Jamal still can be for this team, and doing it against the Mavs – whose defense had given him trouble in previous matchups this year – was another nice example of the kind of growth Denver needs from its non-Jokic players as they all get healthy and look to gel.
– Amazing what consistent effort and available players will do for Denver. Coach Michael Malone may have liked the third quarter better than the first two, because Denver’s defensive effort stayed steady despite their offense going cold compared to the start of the game. Denver kept playing defense, kept making rotations, kept up the extra effort. Denver held Dallas (barely) under a hundred points despite the massive lead they built, and these are the kinds of championship habits that are good to see them building in January. Denver obliterated Dallas on the boards 51-30 – almost certainly helped some by the early injury to Derrick Lively – and harassed the Mavs at the three point line all night while closing so many driving lanes. The Nuggets had 20 turnovers but never let it interrupt their flow or get in their way of playing hard on the other end. The Mavericks are hurting, but these are the wins that Denver needs to lock up in order to find a groove and pile up some wins. This is how a contender starts to put streaks together – here’s hoping for another win in the streak tomorrow night.
