The Mavericks survived the Nuggets’ rally after Nikola Jokic’s return, 123-120

The Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets entered Friday’s game with a 1-1 record in the NBA Cup and were looking to take control of the Western Conference wild card spot. Denver received some good news as Nikola Jokic returned to the lineup after missing the last three games, while the Mavs were without Luka Doncic.

With Doncic out of the lineup, Dallas started Kyrie Irving, Quentin Grimes, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington and Dereck Lively II, and Denver started Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Peyton Watson and Jokic.

It was an early start for PJ Washington and Quentin Grimes, and Dallas seemed to make a concerted effort to get Washington involved early, thinking he had the advantage over Peyton Watson. Grimes and Washington scored 16 of the Mavs’ first 22 points. Denver showed Kyrie Irving two defenders every time he touched the basketball, so he got the others involved.

After the Mavs jumped out to a 20-9 lead, Denver got back in front, cutting the lead to 22-18. Naji Marshall began to gain momentum with his elite finishing on the court, scoring six points in a matter of minutes to extend the Mavs’ lead to eight again. However, in the last minute of the quarter, Nikola Jokic went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two, and Dallas took a 33-31 lead into the second quarter.

After some questionable fouls on Denver, Dallas took advantage of a small advantage and increased the lead to nine early in the second period. Denver always put up a fight, but could never get over the hump and take the lead.

Thanks to Naja Marshall’s clever play at the end of the game and Kyrie Irving’s shot, as well as some action in attacking the basket, the Mavericks took a 19-point lead at the end of the first half. While Jokic was doing the same for the Nuggets, no one else was able to really get things going and the Mavs took a 73-53 lead into halftime.

Jokic scored 19 points on Aug. 14 shooting and Christian Braun had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The remaining Nuggets scored just 24 points on June 24. This was the biggest reason why Dallas took such a large lead into halftime. It also helped that they scored 32 points off the bench, helping them outrebound Denver 40-22 in the second quarter.

Michael Porter Jr. began taking several shots in the opening minutes of the second half, using one of his patented heaters to cut Dallas’ lead to 12 midway through the half. Denver lacked energy in the first half, but that wasn’t the case in the third quarter as the pace of play made players look tired Dallas teams.

Dallas’ timeout didn’t keep Denver off balance as it continued to chip away at the lead, cutting it to three after a 27-6 run. The Mavs shot poorly and attacked poorly, and it all seemed easy to the Nuggets. In the first nine minutes of the third quarter, Dallas shot 6/19 from the floor and Denver shot 12/18. This is a surefire way to cover your trail.

The Mavericks stabilized the situation somewhat, maintaining a 95-89 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the path to victory seemed much more difficult than at halftime. Naji Marshall played great for the Mavs, making three three-pointers in a game for the first time since his time as a Pelican and providing his usual reliability on the court.

Of all the players, Russell Westbrook scored three back-to-back goals early in the fourth quarter, then cut the lead to four on the bench, with Nikola Jokic on the bench. Then former Mavericks DeAndre Jordan hit a lob to extend the lead to two. By the time Jokic checked back in with seven minutes left, Dallas was down just four points and he was one of the few players with a positive plus/minus.

Westbrook hit other Mavs scored three points after free throws, and with six minutes left, Jokic made a running shot to increase the score to one. Denver took its first lead of the game on its next possession off a Peyton Watson corner kick and completely blew a 24-point lead.

With three minutes left, Denver went up five on a dunk by Peyton Watson, and Dallas’ offense looked lifeless. PJ Washington tied the game with two minutes left on a nice drive, then followed it up with a go-ahead run on the next sequence.

Lively had two blocks on what appeared to be easy shots to keep the score tied, then Quentin Grimes put the Mavericks ahead again with two free throws while fighting for a loose ball. PJ Washington attacked Jamal Murray on the next possession to extend the lead to four with 49.7 seconds left.

Jokic cut the lead to two in 41 seconds and scored a surprisingly easy basket, considering how close the game was one-on-one against Washington. This allowed Dallas to postpone the game, something they couldn’t do when these two teams played a few games ago. Naji Marshall put a runner in as the shot clock expired to extend the lead to four with 18.8 seconds left.

Dallas elected to put Russell Westbrook at the free throw line with 13.7 seconds on the game clock. He hit the first ball off the front of the rim and the second he intentionally missed from the back of the rim, which led to an offensive rebound by Jokic. He passed to Jamal Murray, who poked the ball in to cut the lead to one.

Kyrie Irving hit two free throws in seven seconds; they then fouled Jamal Murray with 4.2 left. Murray hit the first one and intentionally tried to miss the second one, but accidentally scored and took the lead to one.

With 3.8 seconds left, PJ Washington was the next to cross the finish line and hit both players. He then stole an inbounds pass and the game was over with Dallas winning a thriller 123-120. Dallas is now 2-1 in the NBA Cup, putting them in prime position to earn a wild card and advance to the playoffs.

Naji Marshall was incredible for the Mavs, scoring 26 points in 15:11 off the bench. Seven different Mavericks scored in double figures, marking another all-around effort for Dallas. PJ Washington had a really strong night (22 points, 13 rebounds and three steals), Kyrie Irving wasn’t far behind (19 points, six assists, six rebounds), Quentin Grimes had 14 points, Daniel Gafford had 13, Dereck Lively II had 11 and Spencer Dinwiddie 10. Perhaps the most impressive part of this victory, even without Luka Doncic, was Dallas being able to win and Klay Thompson not scoring a single point while scoring 0/8 from the game.

Nikola Jokic performed brilliantly, recording 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. After not getting much help in the first half, he got it in the second. Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun each scored 17 points, Russell Westbrook 16, Peyton Watson 15 and Jamal Murray 14. Denver also shot 15/29 from three-point range in the game.

The Nuggets have never won a game by 20 or more points at halftime in franchise history. They had opportunities in this game, but Dallas ultimately made enough plays.

The Mavericks have a long flight ahead of them before their game against the Miami Heat on Sunday in South Beach.

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