3 things to watch for as the Nuggets come to Dallas

The Mavericks meet their upstairs neighbor in the standings

The Dallas Mavericks face the Denver Nuggets in an early 2:00pm game at American Airlines Center Sunday, a matchup of teams coping with the faltering health of key players. Someone’s two-game win streak will end; Denver beat the Nets 124-105 Friday as center Nikola Jokic returned from illness, a game after a shorthanded Nuggets squad handled its business against the Clippers, 126-103. Meanwhile, the Mavericks used a 18-2 run to close out Portland Thursday, 117-111, extending a streak that began with a 118-97 throttling of the Lakers Tuesday.

While Dallas has had to play much of January without Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Dante Exum, the Nuggets have had their own injury struggles lately. Guard Jamal Murray sat the second half of their win against Brooklyn, a precautionary move as he has been battling knee soreness. No such load management was possible for Jokic, who had to re-enter the game late after the Nets cut Denver’s 20-point lead to five. Forward Aaron Gordon, who has missed the last eight games while recovering from a calf injury, has been upgraded to day-to-day and could return Sunday. The game will be the first in a two-game set between these teams, both home games for Dallas. They split up their two previous meetings this season, with the Nuggets winning 122-120 on Nov. 10, and the Mavericks taking the second game, 123-120, Nov. 22.

Big test

Jokic’s recent illness did little to slow him down against the Nets, as he turned in a 35-point, 12-board, 15-assist triple-double in the win. While the Mavericks’ defensive focus this season has been on preventing their opponents from scoring in the paint, they have given up some big games to opposing big men. Even in the win against Portland, for much of the game the Mavericks had trouble containing Blazers center Donovan Clingan, who went 4-4 from the field and hauled in 11 rebounds. Dereck Lively II, whose best game of the season came Thursday as he helped secure the win with important rebounds and defense in the fourth quarter, will be tested again. Jokic, a .473 shooter from deep, is a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in two games against the Mavericks this season, but has an array of tools at his disposal if Lively is able to recreate the late-game success he had getting stops when Portland forced him into mismatches on the perimeter.

Denver’s threats in the paint are not limited to their bigs, as third-year wings Christian Braun and Peyton Watson do most of their scoring near the basket, each beneficiaries of Jokic’s gravity and passing ability. Dallas may also have to keep a body on former Maverick DeAndre Jordan, fresh off a revenge game against another former team, in which the lefty made four of his five shots and collected nine rebounds against the Clippers.

Inside out

For all Denver’s recent injury woes, several unlikely Nuggets have emerged as stalwarts, including forward Michael Porter Jr. and 36 year-old guard Russell Westbrook, who have both played in all of Denver’s games this year. Westbrook matched Jokic’s triple-double with one of his own Friday, stepping up in a big way in Murray’s absence. The future Hall of Famer has scored 25, 19, and 26 over the last three games, play that represents an on-court extension of the leadership role he has taken in his first season with the club. Wing Julian Strawther presents another challenge for the Dallas defense, as his recent increase in minutes coincides with several hot shooting outings; he has connected on 40% of his threes over the last six games.

Lately the Mavericks’ committee of guards filling the shoes of Luka and Kyrie have taken turns leading the team, with a variety of approaches. Jaden Hardy’s 25-point performance against Portland, in which he did most of his damage from deep, followed Spencer Dinwiddie’s 19-point effort against the Lakers, which was peppered with scoring from drives, isolations, and midrange. Bridging their work in those two wins was the versatile Quentin Grimes, who followed up his 23-point game against the Lakers with lockdown defense late to freeze a Portland guard rotation that had gashed Dallas in the first half.

The road ahead

After earning wins against two teams below them in the standings, the Mavericks return to a brutal remainder of the January schedule without their two superstars. Dallas faces three teams twice before the end of the month, two of which are title contenders- Denver, New Orleans, and Oklahoma City. The rest of the month also includes games against defending champion Boston, resurgent Detroit, and Minnesota, which won their last meeting with the Mavericks Dec. 25. The Pelicans, Hornets, and Wizards aside, that is a tough slate of opponents. To remain in the playoff race when Luka and Kyrie return, they are going to have to consistently do what brought them success this week against lesser teams. The 47% shooting from deep that helped them blow out the Lakers won’t be there every night, but their performance on the boards in both wins, in which Lively and P.J. Washington helped them win the rebound margin by 11 and 10, is one variable they can do more to control. That won’t be easy to do against a Denver team that shoots .498 from the field, making for few rebound opportunities.

The Mavericks can also continue their improvement in moving the basketball. Although the team has averaged 27.3 assists over the last four games without Irving, up from their season average of 25.1 per game, many of the looks they have gotten with reserve ballhandlers bringing it up have come later in the shot clock that they have when the team has been at full health. The timing, rhythm, and chemistry for good team basketball takes time to develop, especially without their two starting point guards, but the Mavericks’ success sharing the ball in the last two wins suggests that they are getting the hang of it.

How to watch/listen

MAVS TV, channel 29, 97.1 FM KEGL (English), 99.1 FM KFZO (Español)