Mavericks Survive Nuggets' Rally in Nikola Jokic's Return, 123-120

Without Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks picked up a key win in the NBA Cup

Nov 22, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) controls the ball under pressure from Dallas Mavericks guard Jaden Hardy (1) in the first quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets entered Friday night's game with a 1-1 NBA Cup record and looking to take control of the Wild Card in the Western Conference. Denver got big news with Nikola Jokic returning 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, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II, while Denver rolled with Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Peyton Watson, and Jokic.

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It was the PJ Washington and Quentin Grimes show early, with Dallas clearly making a concerted effort to get Washington involved early, thinking he had an advantage on Peyton Watson. Grimes and Washington had 16 of the Mavs' first 22 points. Denver was showing Kyrie Irving two defenders any time he touched the basketball, so he was getting the others involved.

After the Mavs got out to a 20-9 lead, Denver chipped their way back in, getting the lead down to 22-18. Naji Marshall started to get rolling with his elite finishing in the paint, scoring six points over a few minutes to get the lead back up to eight for the Mavs. In the final minute of the quarter, though, Nikola Jokic had a person 6-0 run to cut the lead to two, with Dallas taking a 33-31 lead into the second quarter.

After some questionable foul calls on Denver, Dallas took advantage of some momentum to extend the lead back up to nine early in the second frame. Denver would always fight back, but they could never get over the hump to take the lead.

Thanks to some late shot-clock magic by Naji Marshall, an and-one by Kyrie Irving, and some hustle attacking the basket, the Mavericks took a lead as big as 19 points late in the first half. While Jokic was doing Jokic things for the Nuggets, no one else could really get going, and the Mavs took a 73-53 lead into halftime.

Jokic had 19 of those points on 8/14 shooting, while Christian Braun had 10 points on 4/6 shooting. The rest of the Nuggets had just 24 points on 6/24 shooting. That was the biggest reason Dallas took such a big lead into the break. Getting 32 points from their bench helped, too, which helped them outscore Denver 40-22 in the second quarter.

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Michael Porter Jr. started to make some shots in the opening minutes of the second half, going on one of his patented heaters to cut the Dallas lead to 12 midway through the period. Denver was lacking energy in the first half, but that was not the case in the third quarter, as Dallas' starters were looking winded by the pace of the game.

A timeout by Dallas didn't phase Denver as they continued to chip away at the lead, getting it down to three on a 27-6 run. The Mavs were taking bad shots and running bad offense while everything looked easy for the Nuggets. Over the first nine minutes of the third quarter, Dallas shot 6/19 from the floor while Denver was 12/18. That's a surefire way to erase a lead.

The Mavericks stabilized things a little bit, holding a 95-89 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the path to a win looked much harder than it did at halftime. Naji Marshall was playing great basketball for the Mavs, having three made three-pointers in a game for the first time since he was a Pelican and providing his usual reliability in the paint.

Russell Westbrook, of all players, buried back-to-back triples to start the fourth quarter to bring the lead down to four with Nikola Jokic on the bench. Then, the former Mavericks DeAndre Jordan was on the receiving end of a lob to cut the lead to two. By the time Jokic checked back in with seven minutes to go, Dallas had just a four-point lead with him sitting as one of the few players with a positive plus/minus.

Westbrook hit another three-pointer after free throws by the Mavs to cut it to three, then Jokic hit a running shot to cut it to one with six minutes to go. Denver would take their first lead of the game on their next possession with a corner three by Peyton Watson, having fully erased a 24-point lead.

Denver would go up five with three minutes to go with a dunk by Peyton Watson as Dallas' offense looked lifeless. PJ Washington would tie the game with two minutes to go following a nice drive and then an and-one in transition on the next sequence.

Lively had two blocks on what looked like easy shots to keep the game tied, and then Quentin Grimes gave the Mavericks the lead again following two free throws while fighting for a loose ball. PJ Washington attacked a mismatch against Jamal Murray on the next possession to extend their lead to four with 49.7 seconds remaining.

Jokic cut the lead to two with 41 seconds to go on a surprisingly easy basket, given how close the game was, going one-on-one with Washington. This allowed Dallas to put the game away, something they couldn't do when these two teams played a few games ago. Naji Marshall banked in a runner with the shot-clock expiring to extend the lead back to four with 18.8 seconds remaining.

Dallas decided to put Russell Westbrook on the free-throw line with 13.7 seconds on the game clock. He bricked the first one off the front of the rim, and the second was an intentional miss off the back of the rim, which led to an offensive rebound by Jokic. He passed it out to Jamal Murray, who knocked it in and brought the lead down to one.

Kyrie Irving hit two free throws with seven seconds; then, they fouled Jamal Murray with 4.2 to go. Murray hit the first and tried to intentionally miss the second, but he banked it in on accident, bringing the lead to one.

PJ Washington went to the line next with 3.8 seconds left, hitting both. He'd then steal the inbounds pass, and the game would be over, with Dallas winning a thriller, 123-120. Dallas now moves to 2-1 in the NBA Cup, putting themselves in prime position to snag the Wild Card and advance to the knockout stage.

Naji Marshall was incredible for the Mavs, scoring 26 points on 11/15 shooting off the bench. Seven different Mavericks scored in double-figures, showing 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 had 10. Perhaps the most impressive part about this win, even with Luka Doncic out, was Dallas being able to pick up a win with Klay Thompson not scoring a single point, shooting 0/8 from the field.

Nikola Jokic was great in his return, with a casual 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists. After not getting much help in the first half, he got it in the second half. Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun had 17 points apiece, Russell Westbrook had 16, Peyton Watson had 15, and Jamal Murray had 14. Denver also shot 15/29 from three-point range in this game.

The Nuggets had never won a game in franchise history when trailing by 20 points or more at halftime. They had a chance to do so in this one, but Dallas made enough plays in the end.

The Mavericks have a long flight before they play the Miami Heat in South Beach on Sunday night.

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