Entering Monday’s game with an NBA-best road record (9-5), the Dallas Mavericks’ success away from American Airlines Center was tested against Nikola Jokic and the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Despite a big performance from Luka Doncic, the Mavs lost 130-104, dropping their record to 16-10, while the Nuggets improved to 18-10. With Kyrie Irving (right heel contusion) and Dereck Lively II (left ankle sprain) sidelined due to injuries, the Mavs had a much more challenging time keeping the Nuggets’ defense honest for applying aggressive defensive approaches attempting to contain Doncic.
Other key inactive included Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation). There was a clear focus from the Nuggets to blitz Doncic in 1-5 ball screening actions from the opening tip to mitigate the advantage of bringing up Jokic.
While the sequences weren’t fluid, the Mavs did score at times, but regardless, there were apparent struggles to create an advantage, with the defense shrinking the floor against Derrick Jones Jr. as a spacer. The Mavs subbed in Tim Hardaway Jr. for Exum to have a shooter with gravity be deployed as an additional screener in double-screener actions.
Dallas began stationing Doncic off-ball to start possessions to hunt a smaller defender to force switches and create advantages. After Doncic attacked a mismatch for a turnaround jumper off the glass, the Mavs trailed 24-20 with about 41 seconds left in the first quarter. However, an inability to contain Reggie Jackson on consecutive possessions resulted in Dallas squandering momentum, with Denver pushing its lead back to 28-20 at the end of the period.
A common struggle for the Mavs involved a failure to keep the Nuggets from finding chances to leak out in transition early or capitalize on advantages in semi-transition. Denver quickly pushed the pace on Dallas’ turnovers and missed shots, while the Mavs often could not get back in time, weren’t aggressive getting into the ball often, and had lapses in closing plays on the boards.
When Jokic was on the sideline late in the opening quarter, the Nuggets’ defensive approach shifted to switching everything. Doncic capitalized on this by getting more aggressive scoring and capitalizing on mismatches, often using step-back 3s. Denver later adjusted by hard hedging, even against the final screen in double-drag actions.
However, after the Nuggets’ starters re-entered the game midway through the period, the Mavs were intent on getting Michael Porter Jr. or Jamal Murray switched onto Doncic. The Slovenian superstar often took matters into his own hands during the stretch run of the second quarter, using screening actions to get favorable matchups to create separation for step-back 3s.
A repeated failure to contain the Nuggets resulted in the Mavs trailing by as many as 13 points in the opening, with a 68-59 halftime despite. Those results occurred despite Doncic recording 28 points and six assists before the break while personally accounting for six of the team’s nine makes. Outside of Doncic, Dallas shot 14-29 (48.3 percent) from the floor and 3-13 (23.1) from the perimeter. Jokic posed many challenges for the Mavs’ defense throughout the night by drawing attention to double teams, particularly after a switch in an inverted screening action. The Nuggets’ shooting threats, often Murray, faced opportunities to either quickly let it fly on the catch or attack off the catch with an advantage.
The Nuggets got into dribble handoffs and pick-and-rolls with Jokic and Murray to continue to apply pressure on the defense, punishing the Mavs for not keeping tabs on weak-side cutters after the ball touched the paint.
Murray became the focus of Denver’s mismatch-hunting approach, and Dallas’s weak-side defense produced a string of miscues, allowing putbacks and 45 cuts. While the Mavs had briefly made it a single-figure game midway through the third quarter, the Nuggets found Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a finish at the rim — bringing Denver’s lead back up to 12 points at the 6:06 mark.
As the third quarter played out, the Mavs went with Markieff Morris at center to try playing with a five-out look to maximize floor spacing. The Nuggets extended their lead to a then-game-high 17 points at numerous points as Dallas proved unable to get stops in the half-court and sputtered offensively. The Mavs continued mixing up their lineup combinations, putting Olivier-Maxence Prosper and A.J. Lawson on the wings, with Jaden Hardy and Morris as the other players next to Doncic. Dallas could not manufacture momentum using this group, trailing 98-80 at the end of the third quarter.
After giving up a wide-open corner 3-pointer to Jaylen Strawther early in the fourth quarter, the Mavs trailed by a game-high 23 points. Doncic remained on the floor to this point, with the only change to the previous lineup being Powell playing at center while Morris was on the sideline. It wasn’t long until Doncic checked out of the game for the final time, signaling Dallas packing it in for the night, The Mavs return to action on Wednesday while hosting the surging Los Angeles Clippers.
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