The Mavericks won a thriller in Denver, 131-121, on Monday night. Anthony Davis led the way for the Mavericks with 32 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Cooper Flagg had 24 points and eight rebounds, and undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard had 28 points and 10 assists on zero turnovers. For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 20 rebounds, and 13 assists. Two-way player Spencer Jones had 28 points and five boards, and former Maverick Tim Hardaway Jr. added 13 points.
The Mavericks looked lost from the start as the Nuggets got out with a Murray 3-pointer and a Jokic hook shot after Anthony Davis missed a layup, and Cooper Flagg turned the ball over on the next possession. The Nuggets started on a 21-4 run with Anthony Davis making the only two baskets for the Mavericks in the first five minutes of the game. 12 of the Nuggets’ first 21 points came from two-way forward from Spencer Jones.
Finally, the Mavericks started scoring again and immediately got back into the game, led by the scoring duo of Davis and Flagg. Flagg had two tough finishes, including one 3-point play, while Anthony Davis contributed a tip dunk around the rim. After the four-minute mark, coach Kidd pulled the starters and let Naji Marshall and Klay Thompson handle the scoring load. The Mavericks did their best to stay in the game, but their lack of interior defense helped the Nuggets to a 41-27 lead at the end of one.
Jonas Valanciunas tried to put the Mavericks to bed early to start the second quarter, scoring the first six points of the frame for the Nuggets. Anthony Davis did his best to keep up with Denver’s backup center, as he raced out to 21 first-half points of his own. The Mavericks flirted with a 12-16 point deficit until D’Angelo Russell found Naji and hit his own three-point shot. Russell, along with some free throws and paint shots from Anthony Davis, helped the Mavericks cut the lead to nine, making the Nuggets call a timeout with nine minutes left in the first half.
Jones quickly got the Nuggets’ lead back to 14 with a 3-pointer, followed by Valanciunas’ driving score. Nembhard took over at this point, as he scored six points to keep the Mavericks’ deficit at 10. He finished the half with 11 points and five assists, with all 11 points coming in the second quarter. After that, Davis and Flagg checked in, and the Mavs caught fire to end the half. The quarter ended with multiple defensive stops and Nembhard’s jumper for the Mavericks to take a one-point lead going into halftime.
The third quarter started ugly for both teams, as each missed a shot and turned the ball over on its first two possessions before Cam Johnson hit a cutting layup off a Jokic feed to give the Nuggets the lead. The Mavs had a couple more tough possessions, letting the Nuggets get a four-point lead, before Nembhard turned back into prime Chris Paul, knocking down a jump shot and a 3-pointer to tie the game. The Mavericks had a three-possession stretch in which the Nuggets ran the same play three times, resulting in three wide-open layups. After that moment, it was legitimately straight fireworks.
Nembhard and Jones went back and forth for about four minutes until finally Nembhard got some help from Flagg, and the Mavs took off. Nembhard hit another 3-pointer and a tough layup, and Flagg added his own layup before the rookie duo hooked up on an alley-oop, giving the Mavs a 98-96 lead with 2:20 left in the quarter. The Mavericks trailed 104-102 heading into the fourth.
Davis opened the fourth quarter aggressively, responding to a Cam Johnson 3-ball by scoring at all three levels: a pick-and-roll layup, a transition assist to Naji Marshall, a fadeaway mid-range jumper, and a three, all before finding D’Angelo Russell for a wide-open triple that put Dallas up 115–112 with eight minutes left. The game tightened from there as Denver answered with a Peyton Watson dunk and a Jokic 3-pointer, though Klay Thompson briefly reclaimed the lead with one of his own. After Thompson connected with Davis on an alley-oop out of a timeout, both teams went ice-cold for nearly two and a half minutes, keeping the crowd tense as Dallas clung to a three-point advantage.
Flagg finally broke the drought with a floater at the 3:15 mark, then scored on a transition finish to extend the lead to seven. After a timeout, Thompson saved a shaky inbound and got the ball to Flagg, whose missed floater was cleaned up by an Anthony Davis put-back dunk to restore a double-digit cushion. Dallas burned the clock the rest of the way, and the Mavericks secured the 131–121 win.
Anthony Davis led the way for the Mavericks on Monday with 32 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots in what was their most impressive and biggest win of the season. Davis, who has been at the center of trade talks recently, had a game that should make fans reconsider moving off the 32-year-old big man. Davis looked fantastic in his second game back from a 14-game absence streak, and then taking off Saturday night’s back-to-back against the Clippers. Davis went toe-to-toe with Jokic, an early favorite for MVP. Jokic had a huge night of his own with 29 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists to try and will Denver to a win. Davis matched the Serbian center’s scoring output and was the biggest factor in the Mavericks’ win.
The biggest takeaway from Davis’ performance was how in-shape he looked. Davis was fantastic, playing in 32 total minutes tonight and looking extremely spry around the rim. Davis only took four 3-pointers in the win, and took 14 of his 23 shots in the paint. That, combined with his 13 rebounds and two blocked shots, made Davis look like the player that Mavs fans were expecting when the team acquired the big man in February.
The Mavericks, now winners of two in a row for the first time this season, will need Davis to keep up this kind of play to inch their way back toward .500. Davis will have to stay healthy and in game shape the rest of the season.
Ryan Nembhard had another impressive showing tonight against one of the best teams in the league. Nembhard, an undrafted rookie on a two-way contract with the Mavs this year, had 28 points and 10 assists, making four 3-pointers and only missing two total shots. He also had zero turnovers, completely outplaying former All-Star guard Jamal Murray. Nembhard was the spark for the Mavericks, getting back into this game after a brutal first quarter. He completely took over the game in the second, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and tacking on four assists in the period as well. Nembhard’s hot hand led him to play the entire second quarter.
Nembhard is proving once again that, although he is a rookie, he is the best and most viable option for the Mavericks as a ball handler. He has put the Mavericks and their GM-less front office in a difficult position, as he only gets 50 total games on the Mavs’ active roster due to his two-way contract. The Mavs have practically buried D’Angelo Russell lately, after all. Nembhard has continued to prove he belongs on this roster and is worth investing in, and the Mavericks will have to find a way to do it.
Flagg continued to find his footing in Denver, with a 24-point, 8-rebound performance. He also tacked on three assists, two steals and a block, on only two turnovers, to help the Mavs power past the Nuggets in a shoot-out in Denver. Flagg went 10-for-13 in the paint. His two best plays of the night were a beautiful pass to Anthony Davis in the second quarter to tie the game for the first time since it had begun, and a stand-still catch-and-shoot 3-pointer to put the Mavs up three late in the third quarter. The pass was in transition, and he looked like Tom Brady threading the needle to Anthony Davis for a quick transition layup before the Nuggets could get back on defense. The 3-pointer was an above-the-break, catch-and-shoot 27-footer where Ryan Nembhard found Flagg trailing while attacking off a dribble handoff. Flagg was calm and collected and shot the ball with confidence.
The most impressive part again was how great Flagg was down the stretch and in crunch time. After a cold stretch where neither team could score in the fourth quarter, Flagg was the one to break the cold streak and calmly hit a soft floater on the right block to put the Mavs up five. After forcing a quick miss from the Nuggets, Flagg took initiative and was the only Maverick who ran down the floor, scoring an easy coast-to-coast layup that practically ended the game. Flagg’s poise in the clutch continues to impress and gives the fans a reason to stick around through this mess.
See More:
* [Mavericks Game Coverage](/dallas-mavericks-game-coverage)
* [Mavericks Scores](/mavericks-scores-results)