DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks (19-18) were .500 going into tonight’s game against the Denver Nuggets (18-17) and escaped a losing record by beating Denver 103-89 and winning the series 2-1.
The Mavericks defense held Denver to an ugly first half, Between poor management of handling the ball and bad shooting Denver couldn’t get much going. The Nuggets had 14 turnovers in the first half and shot 44 percent from the floor.
Dallas kept them to 20 points in the first quarter and 17 points in the second quarter.
The Mavs sent the Nuggets to the free throw line giving them an opportunity to close the lead, Denver couldn’t get the ball to fall, missing seven free throws in the first half shooting just 50 percent from the line.
The Mavs had a good offensive first half and really capitalized on Denver’s mistakes. Technical fouls and turnovers by Denver early on in the game resulted in points at the free throw line for Dallas.
Denver only trailed by four points going into the second quarter but Dallas took it from there. The Mavs went on a 13-0 run to start the second creating a nice lead going into the locker room.
Mavs went into the half up 46-37.
The second half was better shooting for Denver, they came out in the third and got within five points of Dallas but the Mavs didn’t let that go on for much longer. Dallas went on a 8-0 run with four minutes remaining in the quarter putting the Mavs back up by 10 points.
The Mavs ended the third quarter up six on Denver.
Dallas finished the game strong, slamming some three’s late to go on a 14-6 run to finish the game with a 103-89 win in American Airlines Center.
Dallas forced 25 turnovers from Denver on the night and it converted to over 20 points for the Mavericks.
Head Coach Jason Kidd is known for being a defensive driven coach and told us post game that he is very happy with how his team played defensively tonight.
This is not the first team that the Mavs had held to fever than 90 points. Dallas held Oklahoma City the night before to just 86 points.
Dwight Powell said post game that they have really been working on their defense and they are starting to see it come around in games.
Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 15 assists. This was Luka’s first game back after missing 10 straight games due to an ankle injury and then being put on the COVID-19 reserve list.
Dwight Powell and Reggie Bullock both had 15 points.
Kristaps Porzingis did not play in tonight’s matchup after being put on the COVID-19 prodical list earlier in the day. The Mavs were without five players tonight due to COVID-19 and the Nuggets were down six players.
Dallas will be back in American Airlines Center on Wednesday to take on the Warriors who lead the West. Tip off is set for 6:30 pm. It will be televised on ESPN.
