The Dallas Mavericks dropped one at home on Wednesday night to the Denver Nuggets on ESPN, falling 118-109. Jamal Murray poured in 33 to lead a balanced Denver attack. Naji Marshall paced Dallas with 24
points.
With both teams lacking their regular big men in the middle, both the Mavericks and the Nuggets came out early, attacking the paint with flair. The Mavericks led for the first half of quarter one, only for Denver to take the lead on an Aaron Gordon jumper with under five minutes remaining. Denver would close out the first period up 29-23.
Denver reigned fire on Dallas in the second quarter, hitting five threes to go along with a consistent paint attack. Tim Hardaway Jr. hit back-to-back threes to help give the Nuggets their biggest lead of the game with 18. Naji Marshall tried to keep Dallas in it, probing the lane, hitting his floaters, and a nifty and-one drive. But with PJ Washington, Cooper Flagg, and the Maverick bench struggling, they didn’t have near enough offense to keep pace. Dallas entered the half down 63-46.
Mavericks PR announced Cooper Flagg would not return to the game after halftime, following a sprained ankle suffered in the second quarter. He initially tried to play, but the medical staff won that debate. Daniel Gafford also went down with an ankle injury minutes into the half, only for Dallas to trot him back out again for reasons unknown. The Mavericks fell behind by 20+ points, and the game seemed all but over. Of course, no one told Dallas that and they closed with a 17-4 run to end the quarter down 88-78.
Ryan Nembhard ended a Dallas streak of 19 straight missed threes to close the Nuggets lead to five a minute into the quarter. That seemed to wake Denver up and they responded with a 13-2 run to quiet the Dallas crowd. The Mavericks kept pushing, but the threes came too late. Dallas somehow managed to whittle the lead down to six points with 1:12 remaining, but Denver closed out strong. Dallas loses to Denver 118-109.
A reminder that players do not quit
Or at least the ones with pride in what they do don’t quit. These Mavericks are battered and bruised but they are not beaten. Every game, they give us something to watch. If you tuned out because Flagg went down, I don’t blame you, but you missed a run of extraordinary effort to get back in the game late in the third quarter. Dallas didn’t have the talent or the energy to get over the hump, but it says something about how Jason Kidd coaches the team and the professionalism of the Mavericks’ players.
Guard size matters
Jamal Murray isn’t a monster; he’s listed at 6’4” and Richard Jefferson made various cracks about his size in the game. But he’s strong and plays big and made the Dallas guards look small against Denver. Brandon Williams can go fast, and Ryan Nembhard can orchestrate an offense, but over the long haul of the NBA season, talent and size win out over effort. As the Mavericks rebuild around Flagg, they need to find big, talented players to work alongside him. Undersized guys have their role, but on championship-level teams, it’s rare to find more than one of them in the rotation (we see you, Denver Nuggets coach JJ Barea).
Can the Mavericks stop playing guys they might trade who are dealing with nagging injuries?
This is a swipe about Daniel Gafford re-entering the game after coming up looking limp following yet another ankle injury to the same one that’s bothered him since the opening minutes of preseason practice. Maybe it’s a lame criticism, but if a second guy becomes untradeable because Dallas played him despite injury concerns, I will lose my mind.
Caleb Martin is a superstar hiding in plain sight
Price of the brick going up. What else can we say about a guy who had 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals off the bench? Martin hit seven of nine shots! Nico Harrison knew what he was doing and if any team is wise, they should try to pry Caleb Martin away from the Mavericks with a draft pick and a young player as soon as possible. This is the kind of wing to push your rotation over the top into true contender status.
