An evening to forget for the Dallas Mavericks! The Mavs got under the wheels at the Denver Nuggets 75: 106. There are big holes in defense, the offense never gets going – and even Luka Doncic remains pale.
Denver Nuggets (3-2) – Dallas Mavericks (3-2) 106:75 (BOXSCORE)
Nevertheless, Doncic was the top scorer of his team with 16 points, hitting just 5 of his 18 attempts from the field. Neither the Slovenian nor any other Maverick was able to start a fire in the Mavs offense that evening. Dallas sank a disastrous 29.5 percent from the field and 21.6 percent from downtown (8/37 threesomes).
Otherwise only Trey Burke reached the Double Figures (11) in Garbage Time. Maxi Kleber got 7 points, 2 rebounds and ein Highlight-Block in 23 minutes of use. Because of the blowout, none of the Texans played more than 24 minutes, so in the tough back-to-back in Mile High City, coach Jason Kidd was able to give his stars a break – probably the only positive aspect of this game from Mavs’ point of view before on Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m. German time (live on DAZN) the duel with the Sacramento Kings is pending.
“When you have a game like this, no matter what angle you look at, that’s bad,” said Kidd. “There are no excuses. We should have been better.” Meanwhile, Doncic took responsibility for the bankruptcy: “The game is on me. You try to forget something like that as quickly as possible, but at the same time we have to learn from it.”
On the other side, Will Barton’s 17 points were enough for the Nuggets-Forward to take the top scorer’s crown. In addition, he scattered 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Nikola Jokic returned to the floor after knee problems and presented himself in the usual strong shape with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 8 assists. Jeff Green got 14 points off the bench.
The Mavs had to do without Kristaps Porzingis again (back problems), who, according to coach Kidd, is already feeling better. As against San Antonio the night before, Reggie Bullock was allowed to play again from the start instead of Big Man – but just like against Spurs and in previous games, Dallas got into the game very slowly.
Mavs offense never comes into play – Denver dominates
The Nuggets immediately put pressure on transition, several Mavs turnovers put the home side early on in the front. In the first quarter, neither the three-pointers fell among the guests (3/11) nor everything else (6/22 in total) – Dorian Finney-Smith even put a layup on the ring. Denver increased the lead up to 12 points, only because of their own 9 turnovers in the first quarter could not break away any further (29:21).
Then Dallas started with renewed energy in the second section, a 9-0 run by the reservists made things even out again. But Dallas presented itself defensively and the offense, especially with the starters on the court, had not yet found itself (33.3 percent FG in the first half). Denver moved away again to +17, before Doncic at least reduced to 44:54 from Mavs’ point of view at the end of the first half.
Denver got the better start into the second half again, the Mavs offense still lacked rhythm, structure and spacing, even Doncic didn’t get going. The meager 12 guest counters in the third section (season low) were offset by 33 points from the Nuggets, which extended the lead to +31.
The Texans then lacked the energy for a comeback. For the Nuggets fans, there was still a lot to celebrate, rookie Bones Hyland marked a deep threesome shortly after his substitution, a little later, to the frenetic applause of the audience, Bol Bol was allowed to play – seven and a half minutes before the end, the garbage time was rung. Bol was with a crashing alley oop but then still available for a highlight.
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