As Denver attempts to rally at a last-minute playoff run, they felt the hopes slip through their fingertips as they turned the ball over with errant passes and terrible decisions. Lacking a pep in their step, the Nuggets looked lackadaisical with their thoughts and were ultimately too predictable against a veteran team with a treasure trove of experience. The Mavericks defeated the Nuggets 97-88 at Pepsi Center.
THE RUNDOWN
First Quarter – Starters: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, JaKarr Sampson, Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic
Stat of the quarter: Mavericks shot 8-8 from the free throw line and committed zero turnovers to the Nuggets’ seven.
The Nuggets started out great, looking crisp after playing just yesterday. Mudiay started things off with a three, buckets. Jokic was displaying his Magic Johnson-esque skills, dazzling with a great extra pass leading to a Faried dunk:
Things were looking bright until the Mavericks started imposing their veteran experience on the young Nuggets squad, exposing their tendency to foul and starting a parade to the free throw line.
The Mavericks went on a 14-2 run with the help of the charity stripe to end the quarter and completely eradicated the early lead Denver had built.
End of first: Mavericks up 28-24.
Second Quarter – Starters: D.J. Augustin, Jameer Nelson, Will Barton, Darrell Arthur, Joffrey Lauvergne
Stat of the quarter: Nuggets dominated the battle on the boards, more than doubling Dallas’ rebounds 13-6. Unforunately the Nuggets balanced that out by committing four turnovers to the Mavericks’ one.
A rare Jameer sighting as he steps on the court for the first time in 26 games! Unfortunately even veterans aren’t immune to rust as Nelson looked a little stiff in his seven minutes, missing his only shot and making a few off-target passes, one of them hitting Joffrey’s knees.
With the emergence of Augustin, one has to wonder what role Jameer has on the court and if he’d be better left as a locker room presence a la Mike Miller.
Barton was having one of his signature “randomly unstoppable” games as he poured in 13 second quarter points, on 5-9 shooting including 3-6 from three. He also snagged down seven boards, igniting the fastbreak as he blitzed his way down the court either to finish himself or dish it to an open teammate.
Watch here as Barton commands the attention of not just one, not just two, but all four Mavericks that are back on defense:
Unfortunately, even though Dirk Nowitzki was struggling with 1-6 shooting in the quarter, Dallas had an answer to seemingly every Nuggets basket as they tie the second 22-22 and maintained their four point lead.
End of second: Mavericks up 50-46.
Third Quarter – Starters: Mudiay, Harris, Sampson, Arthur, Jokic
Stat of the quarter: Denver once again decimated the rebounding battle 15-8 but still gave it right back in the turnover battle, committing seven turnovers to the Mavericks’ pristine zero.
The Nuggets were making mistake after mistake but luckily were grabbing boards and defending well, holding Dallas down to a mere 9-24 shooting in the third.
The quarter was pretty stale, with one stretch of three and a half minutes of gametime without a single basket. The teams continued going back and forth, answering each others baskets as the Nuggets struggled to stay afloat.
End of third: Mavericks up 72-66.
Fourth Quarter – Starters: Augustin, Barton, Toupane, Arthur, Lauvergne
Stat of the quarter: Not only just winning the rebounding battle, but overwhelmingly was Denver’s single lifeline in this game, so it’s not coincidence that their playoff run got cut short when they lost the battle on the glass 10-6 in a must-win quarter.
The story of the night continued as the Nuggets continually gave away the basketball while the Mavericks valued its possession, making a new franchise record of just three turnovers for the night, one of them coming from J.J. Barea running the clock out at the end of the game.
The rebounding advantage that had been keeping the Nuggets afloat throughout the night was nullified when Malone played Joffrey much too long, leaving Jokic on the bench until there was just 4:23 left in the game, after the Mavericks had already established a double-digit lead.
By the way Dallas was playing, with immaculate execution, it would be a near-impossible task for the Nuggets to come back in crunchtime and that proved to be true. Denver simply did not have enough fire power to overcome the Mavericks’ late game prowess.
Final: Mavericks win 97-88.
WHERE/WHEN
Pepsi Center — Denver, CO | March 28th | Regular Season Game 75 (31-44)
PLAYS OF THE GAME
Jokic going coast-to-coast and finishing the fastbreak with a floater!
King Joffrey with a VICIOUS block, led to a great Nuggets fastbreak:
Barton with a HUGE three to end the third quarter. Got it off with only 2.2 seconds from the opposite baseline:
BY THE NUMBERS
NBA.com
The main stat of the night could be nothing besides the overwhelming turnover deficit as the Nuggets committed 21 to the Mavericks’ three (or four depending on who you ask). Even winning most of the other categories, you’d be hard-pressed beating any team with that large of a gap.
Barton’s phenomenal game will get lost in the loss but let’s try to remember and give him credit for a great showing. He scored a game-high 23 points on 7-14 shooting, 5-9 from three and grabbed eight boards. It’s always great to see The Thrill playing well and once Nurkic comes back, it makes the Nuggets bench one of the very best in the league, bar none.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Nuggets will fly to Memphis and prepare to hunt the Grizzlies. Tip-off is on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. MT.
