The Dallas Mavericks (6-15) will wrap up their five-game road trip on Monday, and the last leg of the jaunt looks like a doozy.
The Mavericks will travel to Denver for one more late appointment with the Denver Nuggets (14-5), who currently sit at fourth in a stacked Western Conference. Tipoff at Ball Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. CDT.
The Nuggets have gone 3-3 in their last six games after running off seven wins in a row in early November. Denver put the hurt on the Phoenix Suns, 130-118, on Saturday in Phoenix behind 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists from their Indomitable Snowman, Nikola Jokic, and 24 more from point guard Jamal Murray.
Dallas comes into the game on the heels of a much-needed 114-110 win at the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, after dropping four in a row before that. Budding rookie star Cooper Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to record 35 or more points in a game in the win.
Here are three storylines that loom large heading into the latest in a brutal stretch of scheduling (and injuries) for the Mavs.
Speaking of injuries
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 28, 2025: Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is fouled by Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) driving to the basket in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on November 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 28, 2025: Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is fouled by Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) driving to the basket in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on November 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
So who exactly will be available for the Mavericks at Denver on Monday? Anthony Davis is listed as probable for the marquee matchup after missing Saturday’s game, which was the second night of a back-to-back set. He returned for Friday’s 129-119 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers after missing 14 in a row with a calf injury.
Flagg is listed on the injury report but is available on Monday. His right thumb was clearly bothering him at times, even as he put together that gargantuan, difference-making effort against the Clippers. Don’t be surprised if the thumb eventually causes Flagg to miss a game or two as December wears on. He’s played 20 games over the last six weeks after playing 37 games total last season as a freshman at Duke.
Daniel Gafford is doubtful as of Sunday’s 8:30 p.m. injury report with a right ankle issue that caused him to miss the game against the Clippers, Dereck Lively II is still out with that bum foot and both P.J. Washington (ankle) and backup point guard Brandon Williams (adductor) are listed as questionable for Monday. Washington, from the “you just can’t make this shit up” file, slipped on a wayward basketball in team warmups before Saturday’s game at the Clippers and turned his ankle in the process. Even if both those last two can go, the Dallas frontcourt will be a little thin behind Davis on Monday against another big, long opponent.
For their part, the Nuggets will be without guard Christian Braun (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (hamstring) on Monday, while Jokic is listed as probable, with a left wrist issue.
Point guard shuffle
Ryan Nembhard has started the last two games at the point for the Mavericks and has looked pretty good for a little feller in the process. He scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Friday’s loss at the Lakers and has hit 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the LA portion of the team’s current road swing.
Nembhard will draw a tough assignment if he’s granted a third straight start, trying to contain Murray, who comes into the game averaging 24 points and 6.6 assists in 35 minutes per game.
Dallas has tried Flagg at point guard. Then the Mavs gave Williams a chance to start. Head coach Jason Kidd even gave free-agent point guard D’Angelo Russell a token shot to bring the ball up for a couple of games along the way before sending him to end-of-bench oblivion in the past two games. The grand solution to surviving at the most important position on the floor in Kyrie Irving’s absence does not exist on this roster. It is what it is.
But Dallas may be onto something with Nembhard’s pure pass-and-shoot skillset. The Mavericks have turned the ball over just 17 times in their last two games combined after going into Saturday’s game against the Clippers at 26th in the league in turnovers per game (16.6).
3-point disparity, again
The Mavs woke up from behind the 3-point line in the second half on Saturday, due in large part to the 23-point explosion (on six made 3-pointers) of Klay Thompson, against the Clippers. They shot just 2-of-20 from distance in the first half before flipping the script and canning 9-of-19 in the second half. The 28.9% shooting figure for the game still doesn’t look good, but the second-half turnaround was a huge part of finding a way to win that game. Still, the Mavs come into the game at 29th in the league in 3-point shooting, at just 32.2% on the year.
The Nuggets, on the other hand, have a hot hand from 3-point land as they approach the quarter pole of their 2025-26 campaign — one of the hottest, actually. Denver comes into Monday’s game at third in the league in 3-point shooting, hitting at a 39.2% clip this year. Denver attempts 34.3 3-pointers per game (23rd in the NBA), while Dallas hoists 35.2 (22nd in the NBA). So, while neither team shoots them in bulk, the Nuggets just make a couple more than the Mavs do on the average night.
Denver went ballistic on the Suns from 3-point range in Saturday’s, hitting 22-of-38 (58%) in the win. Former Maverick Tim Hardaway Jr. was a huge part of that win, as he went 7-of-11 from beyond the arc off the bench for the Nuggets, ending the night with 23 points. He comes into the game scoring 11.9 points per game on 42.9% shooting from 3-point land so far this season. But if Mavericks’ fans know anything about the Tim Hardaway Jr. Experience, it’s this — a peak performance like Saturday’s may mean a prolonged valley is incoming.
Better not to chance it, though, with the potential “revenge game” situation on the Mavs’ hands on Monday. Get a hand in his face.