Dallas wins its fourth straight and stays alive in the NBA cup in the process.
The Dallas Mavericks (9-7) showed a little backbone in crunch time on Friday, gutting out a 123-120 win over the Denver Nuggets (8-6) at Ball Arena. Sure, the Mavericks coughed up a 24-point lead in the process, but they didn’t fold, even without Luka Dončić, who missed the game with a wrist sprain.
Dereck Lively II blocked two big shots in the game’s final two minutes to help P.J. Washington key a late 9-0 Mavs run to preserve the win. Naji Marshall led seven Mavericks scoring in double figures with 26 points in the win, but Washington was huge down the stretch as well and ended the night with 22 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in the loss.
Here are five stats that tell the tale of what went down in Denver on Friday night.
7-of-9: Quentin Grimes’ and P.J. Washington’s shooting start
Playing without the safety net that is Dončić, the scoring was going to have to come from somewhere for the Mavericks. As they’ve done a couple of times before this season, the Mavs force-fed Washington in the post early in the first. He made his first three shot attempts on two post-up opportunities against smaller Denver defenders and a mid-range banker that gave the Mavs an early 9-3 advantage just two and a half minutes in. Quentin Grimes took Dončić’s spot in the starting lineup and promptly hit his first two 3-point attempts to apply a little early pressure on Denver’s home floor.
Kyrie Irving found Grimes streaking in transition for an easy dunk that put Dallas up 18-9 with just under seven minutes left in the first. Grimes hit his fourth straight shot attempt to start the game less than two minutes later, a mid-range jumper with a hand in his face that kept the Mavericks in front, 22-15 at the time.
Grimes led all scorers with 10 points in the first, but Denver chipped away at the lead in the last four minutes of the frame, and Dallas led 33-31 after one.
15-2: Mavs’ late second-quarter run
Irving and Naji Marshall ignited a 15-2 Mavericks run as the second quarter wound down to give Dallas a little breathing room before halftime. Jokic scored underneath after rebounding his own miss over Lively to pull the Nuggets to within 47-44 midway through the second, but Irving and Marshall combined to score 17 of the game’s next 20 points as the Mavs built their lead to as large as 19 points. Irving’s drive through the lane with 2:19 left in the first half gave the Mavericks a 63-46 lead. Marshall kept Dallas’ momentum rolling about a minute later with a tough drive in transition through several Denver defenders to give the Mavs a 67-49 advantage.
Irving and Marshall scored 15 apiece in the first half, while Jokic led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Nuggets. The Mavs went off for 40 in the second quarter and led 73-53 at the break. The second quarter was the second time Dallas has scored 40 or more in a quarter this season.
13-of-15: Dallas’ first-half shooting in the restricted area
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Any way you look at it, Dallas was dominant inside in the first half. It would be a very repeatable way to win should the Mavs choose to repeat the effort any time soon. There was a concerted effort on everyone’s part to get to the rim whether in transition or in the halfcourt offense.
The Mavs shot 13-of-15 in the restricted area in the first half at Denver. They outscored the Nuggets 44-20 in the paint in the first half as well. It wasn’t just Lively and Daniel Gafford feasting in the middle, either. Seven of Irving’s 12 first-half shot attempts came at or near the rim. Marshall and Washington got involved, consistently getting shots in the lane if not right at the rim. It was a big part of the reason the Mavericks shot 30-of-49 (61.2%) from the field in the first half.
27-6: Denver’s third-quarter run fueled by Michael Porter Jr.
Dallas held Michael Porter Jr. to just four points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. Without Aaron Gordon (calf strain) in the lineup, Porter Jr.’s lack of production was no small part of what set Denver back in the first half.
He hit a finger roll in the lane and a step-back in the midrange on back-to-back possessions early in the quarter before driving through the teeth of the Dallas defense for a dunk and following that up with a long 3-pointer the next time down to bring the Nuggets to within 81-69 midway through the third. It all stretched into an excruciating 27-6 Nuggets run that brought Denver all the way back to within six, down just 83-77 after Jokic’ leaner in the lane with 3:29 left in the third. Porter Jr. scored 11 on 5-of-6 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-point range) in the quarter, and the Mavs’ led 95-89 heading into the fourth.
26: A career-high scoring night for Naji Marshall
Marshall provided the big bucket the Mavericks needed time and time again down the stretch. He never shied away from the big moment, showing that knack for getting into the lane and scoring on tough leaners. He weaved through the Denver defense and finished with a high banker late in the shot clock with 20 seconds left to play to give the Mavs a 119-115 lead. That basket also gave Marshall a new career-high scoring night with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
He wasn’t just a threat going to the bucket, either. After missing his last 14 3-point attempts coming into the game, Marshall hit 3-of-4 from distance in the win over the Nuggets. The Dallas bench outscored the Denver bench 57-24 behind Marshall’s 26 in the win.
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