The stars were out in Denver tonight. Refusing to let the Nuggets drop another winnable game due to diabolical scheduling, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokić put the league on notice that the best two-man game of a generation would like a word before the story of 2026 is inked.
1st Quarter
Both teams came out with energy and pace. The Nuggets jumped to an early lead with Cam Johnson heavily involved. First was a three, then a jumper on the first of Jokić’s eleven first-half assists. Dallas answered as Payton Washington and Naji Marshall provided early buckets to keep it tight. Mal got cooking with the first of his 15 points in the quarter with a floater followed by a pull-up trey. Cooper Flagg gave Dallas a spark with some mid-range makes, but they called a timeout at the 7-minute mark to regroup as Denver began to pull ahead.
Murray continued to hit as the quarter progressed. He hit a step-back on a Jokić feed before draining his second three to give the Nuggets a 19-18 lead. Watson and Braun got into the flow with a pair of layups. After Mal’s short turnaround and free throw, Jok and THJ matched Smith and Williams’ scoring for Dallas, giving the Nuggets a slim one-point lead.
2nd Quarter
The second quarter belonged to future All-NBA superstar Jamal Murray, who blew the doors open with yet another flurry. The subs went tit-for-tat over the first five minutes with Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, and Spencer Jones all contributing. When Jamal checked back into the game with 7:39 left in the half, he immediately made an impact hitting a 27′ pull-up three for his 18th point. Cam hit another triple, followed by a layup by Mal and a Strawther trey to continue to hold the narrow lead. With just over three minutes left, Jokić added a three of his own before Jamal Murray went off again.
Pull up three. Step back three. Heat-check three. And after hitting 3-of-4 free throws, Jamal sent the Nuggets into the half up 68-59 on the back of 33 first-half points.
3rd Quarter
The good guys picked up where they left off with Jokić and Murray scoring on back-to-back possessions to expand the lead to 11. The Mavs hung around, though, despite the Nuggets maintaining good intensity, partially by getting away with fouls on Jokić, which is becoming something of a disturbing trend. Neither team could build a run or rhythm, even, as the refs got fast and loose with the whistle. At the three-point mark, Dallas cut the lead to 93-92 after three-straight and-ones. Jokić restored order in the paint then Bruce Brown swished a corner three on a nice crosscourt find to build the lead. The run then grew to 7-0 as PWat euro-stepped into a floater. Klay Thompson answered with a turnaround, but four Joker free throws and an Uncle Bruce layup on #15’s 15th assist grew the lead to 106-96.
Strawther’s deep, high-arching three felt like the dagger to end the period until the real MVP ripped off this pass to give the Nuggets an 18-8 run and 111-100 lead:
4th Quarter
To their credit, the Mavs decided to not go gently into the warm Denver night. Washington scored six in the first three minutes followed by a Middleton three and fadeaway jumper to keep the Mavs within single digits despite Jamal continuing to bucket with seven more as Jokić sat. Jamal’s 45th point matched a Flagg dunk, but the ROTY candidate then hit a step-back three, cutting the Nuggets’ lead to 124-116. Jamal continued to score seemingly at will, but another Flagg make and Christie made the game interesting. After Washington’s tip dunk and another Christie three, the Nuggets lead had evaporated (127-126), and Coach Adelman called timeout.
The remaining three minutes would be all Nuggets. CB hit a pair of free throws, then Jokić hit a jumper for his 23rd point. Watson added a three on Big Honey’s 19th(!) assist. Then the Blue Arrow, who wasn’t done hitting daggers, put in another pullup three followed by a step-back J to all but seal the game with 1:42 left. The Mavericks kept playing, but 3-of-4 free throws by Watson (21 points) and Bruce’s sixth point of the game closed out a game the Nuggets needed to stay in the hunt for the third seed in the West.
FINAL SCORE: Mavericks 135, Nuggets 142
GAME NOTES
- Jamal Murray’s 53 points were the 2nd most of his career
- Nikola Jokic became the 46th player in NBA history with 6,000+ assists
- Number 15 also became the first player in history to record 15/15/15 in both games of a back-to-back
- Likely ROTY Cooper Flagg led the Mavericks with 26 in the loss
