Mavericks vs Nuggets: 3 things to watch as Dallas travels to Denver

Dallas starts an away trip in Denver

The Dallas Mavericks (5-4) start a four game away trip this Sunday at the Denver Nuggets (6-3). Dallas is coming off a frustrating homestand, going just 2-3 in five winnable games. Each loss was by single digits, including an infuriating loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday.

While Dallas is still missing key rotational players, the Mavericks will try to get back to winning ways against Denver. After a struggling start to the season, Denver has won six of their last seven games, getting major contributions from Christian Braun, Russell Westbrook, and three-time MVP winner Nikola Jokic. It’s not the ideal matchup for a Mavs team that could really use a win, but it should be a great, competitive game.

How will the Mavs defend Nikola Jokic

Defending Nikola Jokic is an impossible task for any team, but it might be even more impossible for this current iteration of the Mavericks. PJ Washington, Dereck Lively, and Maxi Kleber are all doubtful to play, robbing Dallas of three great matchups to throw at Jokic. Instead, they’ll rely on Daniel Gafford and a combination of Dwight Powell, Naji Marshall, and even Luka Doncic to slow down Jokic.

The challenge of guarding Jokic requires a host of wings and bigs and the Mavs simply don’t have the bodies. Dallas will need stellar defensive performances from the entire rotation and specifically Gafford and Powell to have a shot against the Nuggets.

Will any of the bench players step up?

Dallas has struggled all season to get production out of their bench. The bench is 24th in the league by offensive rating and the rash of injuries has only made them worse. In the Suns loss, the Dallas bench combined for just nine total points. While some blame can go to coach Jason Kidd for his rotation experiments – many fans have been clamoring for Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy to get more minutes – veteran players like Spencer Dinwiddie need to step up.

Taking advantage of the non-Jokic minutes

Denver is one of the few teams with a worse bench than Dallas. Denver’s bench is 29th in offensive rating and last in net rating with an ugly -6.9 compared to the Mavericks 12th best 1.7 net rating. In the Nuggets 13 point win against the Heat on Friday, Jokic finished with a plus/minus of +26 – the Nuggets ranged from -5 to -12.

Jokic is averaging a career high of 38.1 minutes per game so far this season. Dallas has to overwhelmingly win the minutes he’s not on the floor to beat the Nuggets. Look for Dallas to go on runs while Jokic is on the bench.

How to watch

Tipoff for the Mavericks vs. the Nuggets is scheduled for 7 p.m. Local and regional viewers can watch the game over the airwaves on Channel 29, or you can stream the game on MavsTV or NBA League Pass.