'Bullseye!': Reggie Bullock Thriving; Mavs Takes

Here are three of the biggest takeaways from the Dallas Mavericks blowout win over the Denver Nuggets. Is the old Reggie Bullock back?

The Dallas Mavericks have now won three consecutive games following their 103-89 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. The Mavs are now back above .500 as a result—improving to 19-18 on the season.

Like most teams around the NBA, it has been a challenge for the Mavs to play games with most of their key players available. Just as Luka Doncic exited the health & safety protocols, Kristaps Porzingis entered protocols and was unavailable to play against Denver.

However, Dallas ended up doing just fine without Porzingis. In the Mavs' win over the Nuggets, there were only four total lead changes, and Denver's biggest lead of the game was just two points.

Let's take a look at three takeaways from the Mavs' third win in row.

Is Reggie Bullock's Shooting Regressing to the Mean?

For a team that's been built by having superstar initiator Luka Doncic surrounded with catch-and-shoot threats, it's vital for those complementary talents to actually be capable of converting at an efficient clip. 

Reggie Bullock, who was a vital offensive and defensive contributor for the New York Knicks last season, was signed by the Mavericks in the offseason to fill such a role. He struggled to begin the season, but he seems to be gaining rhythm since exiting the NBA's health and safety protocols. In three games since returning to action, Bullock is shooting 52.9 percent from deep, which is a huge difference from his season average of 30 percent.

Bullock managed to shoot 4-of-8 from deep against the Nuggets, with all but one of his makes being the result of an assist from Doncic. 

''[Doncic] really was finding shooters on the floor,'' Nuggets replacement coach Popeye Jones said of Doncic, who finished with a season-high 15 assists. ''He's clever and kept getting the switch when there was confusion. He made us pay. That's what great players do.''

On a night without Porzingis in the lineup and both Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber combining to shoot 3-of-10 (30.0%) from deep, Bullock's three-point shooting execution played a key role in the outcome. Bullock has finally found his 'bullseye,' and he's hitting it often.

Good Mavs Defense or Bad Nuggets Offense?

While the Nuggets may be without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., they still have Nikola Jokic and some other solid players. Containing a group like that to just 89 points is a testestament to the Mavericks' defensive execution.

It was a real struggle for the Nuggets to get going offensively in this game. Denver came out flat, scoring only 20 points in the first quarter, followed by just 17 points in the second. 

The Nuggets finished the opening half with 37 points while going just 14-of-33 (42.4 percent) from the floor and 2-of-10 (20.0 percent) from deep. The Mavericks had only 46 points of their own, so Denver wasn't completely out of reach at that point, but they didn't fare much better to close the game, either.

''The whole game, we were pretty solid, especially our defense today was amazing,'' Doncic said. ''It's not going to happen that they're not going to make a run. And we stayed together, and we just stayed aggressive.''

Nikola Jokic finished with 27 points on 11-of-18 (61.1 percent) from the field, but everyone knows he's going to get his numbers regardless of an opposing team's defensive effort. He's just that talented, and he's the reigning MVP for a reason. If you take away Jokic's scoring, the Nuggets only had 62 points from other players while posting terrible shooting results—going 20-of-49 (40.8 percent) from the floor.

Keep in mind, the supporting cast numbers for the Nuggets includes Aaron Gordon's 15-point performance on 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) from the floor. The bench finished with 27 points, and Austin Rivers, who started, didn't score in 19 minutes of action.

The Nuggets' overall shot profile was rough, too. Denver went 6-of-25 (24.0 percent) from beyond the arc and finished the game with 18 post-ups, which was triple the volume of the Mavericks. Denver was outscored by a staggering 24 points in the perimeter shooting department. 

All of that was concerning, but it didn't even factor in the comical volume of turnovers the Nuggets recorded, which leads us into the next point...

Nuggets’ Turnover Machine

It's challenging to win games as a team who turns it over a lot. The Nuggets finished with a staggering 26 turnovers in this matchup while the Mavericks ended up with less than half (11).

The Mavericks ended up scoring 28 points off turnovers while giving up 14 of their own. When reflecting back on how Dallas outscored Denver by a 24-point margin using perimeter shooting, it's easy to see how this game ended up being a blowout victory. 

 “(That) means your hands are active, you're in the right spot and you're covering one another," Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. "Our defense right now is playing pretty good."

Although Kidd's statement is true, the level of sloppiness from the Nuggets was wild at times as well. Will Barton finished with six assists, but somehow ended up with more turnovers overall. There were four other players for Denver who ended their night with at least three turnovers.

The Mavericks have given up an average of just 91.5 opponent points per game over their previous four outings. Additionally, their opponents have turned it over 15.5 times per game within that same stretch. The level of execution from Dallas' defense has been clear, and it has resulted in the team claiming a top-10 defensive rating.