Luka Doncic's Shorthanded Dallas Mavs Outmatched in Road Loss vs. Denver Nuggets

With Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II sidelined, the Mavs ended a two-game road trip with a loss against the Nuggets despite Luka Doncic's big performance.

DENVER — Entering Monday's game with an NBA-best road record (9-5), the Dallas Mavericks' success away from American Airlines Center was tested against Nikola Jokic and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets. Despite a big performance from Luka Doncic, the Mavs lost 130-104, dropping their record to 16-10, while the Nuggets improved to 18-10.

With Kyrie Irving (right heel contusion) and Dereck Lively II (left ankle sprain) sidelined due to injuries, the Mavs had a much more challenging time keeping the Nuggets' defense honest for applying aggressive defensive approaches attempting to contain Doncic. Other key inactive included Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation).

“It’s tough,” Doncic said. “We have five, six players out that play a lot of minutes for us, so it’s tough. But we have to have a better mentality. It’s got to be next man up. And we’ve got to be way better with our energy during the game.”

There was a clear focus from the Nuggets to blitz Doncic in 1-5 ball screening actions from the opening tip to mitigate the advantage of bringing up Jokic. While the sequences weren't fluid, the Mavs did score at times, but regardless, there were apparent struggles to create an advantage, with the defense shrinking the floor against Derrick Jones Jr. as a spacer. 

"We had a lot of open shots, sort of out of the pick and roll, you know, in the short roll," Doncic said. "We're just going to make those shots; there's not much more."

The Mavs subbed in Tim Hardaway Jr. for Dante Exum to have a shooter with gravity be deployed as an additional screener in double-screener actions. Dallas began stationing Doncic off-ball to start possessions to hunt a smaller defender to force switches and create advantages. 

“When you’re playing against a guy like Luka, you have to have your base coverage, which is do what you do,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. “And then you have to have your adjustments ready.

“This team, probably more so than most, will identify the matchup they want, call him up at the pick-and-roll, and let Luka try to do his thing. He is responsible for doing so much for that team, and you want to make him have to work.”

After Doncic attacked a mismatch for a turnaround jumper off the glass, the Mavs trailed 24-20 with about 41 seconds left in the first quarter. However, an inability to contain Reggie Jackson on consecutive possessions resulted in Dallas squandering momentum, with Denver pushing its lead back to 28-20 at the end of the period. 

A common struggle for the Mavs involved a failure to keep the Nuggets from finding chances to leak out in transition early or capitalize on advantages in semi-transition. Denver quickly pushed the pace on Dallas' turnovers and missed shots, while the Mavs often could not get back in time, weren't aggressive getting into the ball often, and had lapses in closing plays on the boards.

"They are actually very good in transition," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "When you talk about Jokic and the homerun pass, they get out. They had 16 transition points in the first quarter. Our half-court was fine, but we gave up 28 in the first, with 16 in transition. 

"That puts you in a bad situation, especially when they play in the half-court," Kidd explained. "They play through Joker [Nikola Jokic], and you expect them to score. So, when you give up points in transition it just makes it a little bit tougher and tonight it was tough for us."

When Jokic was on the sideline late in the opening quarter, the Nuggets' defensive approach shifted to switching everything. Doncic capitalized on this by getting more aggressive scoring and capitalizing on mismatches, often using step-back 3s. Denver later adjusted by hard hedging, even against the final screen in double-drag actions.

"Just trusting my shots," Doncic said. "They were going to one-through-five switch and just took advantage of that."

However, after the Nuggets' starters re-entered the game midway through the period, the Mavs were intent on getting Michael Porter Jr. or Jamal Murray switched onto Doncic. The Slovenian superstar often took matters into his own hands during the stretch run of the second quarter, using screening actions to get favorable matchups to create separation for step-back 3s. 

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A repeated failure to contain the Nuggets resulted in the Mavs trailing by as many as 13 points in the opening, with a 68-59 halftime despite. Those results occurred despite Doncic recording 28 points and six assists before the break while personally accounting for six of the team's nine makes. Outside of Doncic, Dallas shot 14-29 (48.3 percent) from the floor and 3-13 (23.1) from the perimeter. 

“We’ve got to be better defensively if we’re not scoring,” Kidd said. “So this is two games as a coach I’ve got to be better. The big thing is our defense has to be better; we just can’t rely on Luka to have 40 and bail us out.”

Jokic posed many challenges for the Mavs' defense throughout the night by drawing attention to double teams, particularly after a switch in an inverted screening action. The Nuggets' shooting threats, often Murray, faced opportunities to either quickly let it fly on the catch or attack off the catch with an advantage. 

The Nuggets got into dribble handoffs and pick-and-rolls with Jokic and Murray to continue to apply pressure on the defense, punishing the Mavs for not keeping tabs on weak-side cutters after the ball touched the paint. Murray became the focus of Denver's mismatch-hunting approach, and Dallas's weak-side defense produced a string of miscues, allowing putbacks and 45 cuts. 

While the Mavs had briefly made it a single-figure game midway through the third quarter, the Nuggets found Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a finish at the rim — bringing Denver's lead back up to 12 points at the 6:06 mark. 

Luka Doncic Misses Mavs Shootaround; Status vs. Nuggets

As the third quarter played out, the Mavs went with Markieff Morris at center to try playing with a five-out look to maximize floor spacing. The Nuggets extended their lead to a then-game-high 17 points at numerous points as Dallas proved unable to get stops in the half-court and sputtered offensively.

The Mavs continued mixing up their lineup combinations, putting Olivier-Maxence Prosper and A.J. Lawson on the wings, with Jaden Hardy and Morris as the other players next to Doncic. Dallas could not manufacture momentum using this group, trailing 98-80 at the end of the third quarter. 

After giving up a wide-open corner 3-pointer to Julian Strawther early in the fourth quarter, the Mavs trailed by 23 points. Doncic remained on the floor to this point, with the only change to the previous lineup being Powell playing at center while Morris was on the sideline. It wasn't long until Doncic checked out of the game for the final time, signaling Dallas packing it in for the night before trailing by as many as 36 points at one point before the final buzzer sounded.

Doncic finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in 36 minutes, with Exum being the only other player to reach double figures with 11 points. Outside of these two players, the rest of the Mavs combined for 55 points, shooting 23-62 (37.1 percent) overall and 6-25 (24.0 percent) from deep. Dallas gave up 32 fastbreak points, resulting in a 21-point disadvantage. 

It was a much more balanced effort for the Nuggets, with three players scoring at least 20 points, between Murray (22 points), Gordon (21 points), and Jackson (20 points). A total of six players scored in double figures, with Jokic — a common focus of double teams — not being among them. The two-time NBA MVP finished with eight points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. 

The Mavs return to action on Wednesday while hosting the surging Los Angeles Clippers.