Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavs Get Championship Learning Experience in Loss to Denver Nuggets

After starting the season 4-0, the Dallas Mavericks were feeling good heading into Friday night's In-Season Tournament matchup with the defending-champion Denver Nuggets, but they suffered their first loss of the year in humbling fashion.

As encouraging as the Dallas Mavericks' 4-0 start to the season was, you might want to pump the brakes on placing them among the rest of the NBA's championship contenders ... for now at least.

Yes, the Mavs have a lot of promise with a young, talented core that is topped off with the superstar duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but they were taught a tough lesson on Friday night in a 125-114 loss to the defending-champion Denver Nuggets on the road in their first In-Season Tournament game. Dallas fought back to cut a 20-point deficit to eight with 3:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, but it was a case of 'too little, too late.'

"Digging yourself out of a hole from the 40 points you gave up in the first quarter, I think the guys did a great job of trying to fight and compete," said acting head coach Sean Sweeney, who stepped in for a sick Jason Kidd. "I thought Kyrie and Luka, and their actions together in the second half, did a great job of playing together, and offensively got it going there. But when you put yourself down that much early on, as we know, it's tough to overcome that, especially against guys like [the Denver Nuggets] ... a great team"

Despite Doncic putting up 34 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and one block, and Irving pitching in with 22 points, seven assists, four steals and two blocks, reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic was just too much for Mavs rookie big man Dereck Lively II to handle. Jokic finished with 33 points on 14-16 shooting from the field to go with a game-high 14 rebounds and nine assists while being a +17 on the night.

Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II defends Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Lively receiving his latest "welcome to the league" moment from Jokic of all people is certainly nothing for him to be ashamed of. The 19-year-old center finished with just four points, four rebounds, one steal and one block in 25 minutes ... but more importantly, he received valuable experience that will help him grow going forward, especially as he spends more time in an NBA weight room.

"He learned what it's like to play in altitude," Sweeney said. "Each day he's learned, and I think nothing changes for him ... going against guys like Jokic, or [Aaron] Gordon, or various players offensively that are great in pick-and-rolls. On the other end, understanding how their coverages are to [know] where he needs to be on the floor. So he's going to learn each and every day, each and every game.

"For a guy like that who has such an incredible work ethic and a desire to improve, you can't skip steps. Sometimes you can take them a little bit faster, but at the end of the day, he's going to take each step one-by-one. It's like anything else: when you take the test, you study, you prepare, you take the test, you get graded on it, you make your corrections and then you get ready to go on the next one. That's all you can do."

Overall size of the Mavs' roster compared to the Nuggets was the deciding factor in Friday's matchup. Dallas shot a respectable 47.7 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from deep, but they were out-rebounded by Denver 51-34 and outscored in the paint 68-40.

As much potential as Lively has shown early on, the Mavs might want to consider pursuing some upgraded big-man depth on the trade market. And not only center depth, but perhaps some more size on the wing as well. One idea that immediately comes to mind is Dallas finding out what the Brooklyn Nets would want in return for both Nic Claxton and former Mavs fan-favorite Dorian Finney-Smith. Atlanta Hawks' Clint Capela is another option that constantly came up in trade rumors over the offseason.

The Mavs are a good basketball team, and they're certainly better than they were last season after several new players, like Lively, Grant Williams and Derrick Jones Jr., were brought in during the summer. But to have a chance of reaching the championship-caliber level the Nuggets are at, more roster tweaks from Nico Harrison might need to be made to make the Mavs' roster bigger across the board.

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