The Dallas Mavericks (12-18) won a thriller against the Denver Nuggets (21-8) on Tuesday, 131-130, at American Airlines Center. The Mavs were led by Cooper Flagg’s 33 points, nine assists and nine rebounds. Anthony Davis also helped Flagg with 31 of his own points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. Naji dropped in 15 of his own, Ryan Nembhard had 11, and the bench had four guys score nine points or more, which was everything for Dallas on a night without P.J. Washington (foot), Klay
Thompson (knee) and Max Christie (illness). For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic had 29 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists, while Jamal Murray matched his statline with 31 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists of his own. The Nuggets’ duo was fantastic, but not enough to beat the suddenly resurgent Mavs on a back-to-back tonight.
The Mavericks opened the gate hot, ready to avenge their loss to the Pelicans on Monday. Anthony Davis picked up right where he left off, scoring 6 of the Mavs’ first 14 points, helping Dallas get out to a 14-2 start in the first 8 minutes. Cooper Flagg and Naji Marshall were also significant contributors in the first quarter, combining their athleticism and playmaking skills to find each other and Davis on multiple cuts for dunks.
Flagg’s spark and Davis’ hot start gave the Mavs a 41-27 lead going into the second quarter.
The first two minutes of the second mirrored the first. Flagg kept his hot hand, finding Daniel Gafford for an alley-oop to open the quarter and then knocking down probably the longest three of his young NBA career to extend the lead to 48-29. After a Denver timeout, the Nuggets found themselves again, forcing the Mavericks into misses and turnovers while converting easy twos and open threes on the other end. Jamal Murray took over the final five minutes of the half, making Ryan Nembhard and the Mavericks drop defense look like middle schoolers. Even when Cooper Flagg checked back in, Murray terrorized the Mavs. Murray scored 14 points in the second, including two threes to end the quarter and to put the Nuggets within 10, 66-56. Flagg finished the first half with 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting, along with four rebounds, four assists, and some stellar defense to lead the Mavs.
The Mavs came out of the break colder than cold. The Jokic and Murray duo was absolutely dominating the floor, finding each other for scores and opening others up for knockdown threes. After the Nuggets’ two-man game got them to within five, Cooper Flagg came back to life. Following a small Anthony Davis spurt, Cooper Flagg had an insane spurt, including a monster driving dunk over Spencer Jones and Nikola Jokic to get him to 28 points on the night.
After that, the game went completely crazy, with Caleb Martin going on a personal 6-0 run, including an and-1 and a 3-pointer, while on the other side, Tim Hardaway Jr. could not miss a single shot throughout the third quarter. Hardaway hit four 3-pointers in the quarter alone to get him to 23 points. The end of the quarter was sloppy for the Mavs as they limped to the finish line. The Mavericks seemed to be gearing up for yet another clutch game, this time on back-to-back nights. Jokic finished the quarter with eight assists, and the Nuggets outscored the Mavs 47-30 in the period.
The Mavs looked at times like they were collapsing in the fourth quarter, but found just enough in the tank to pull out the win. Nembhard tried to do his best to keep the Mavs afloat with three easy twos. After Nembhard kept getting free, the Nuggets called a timeout, and the Mavericks came out with some life. Anthony Davis did his best to keep the Mavs afloat until completely falling asleep for a four-possession stretch where he did not go below the three-point line on either side of the ball, letting the Nuggets hold onto a one-point lead. The game came down to the wire in the last six minutes. After a monster block by Gafford in transition, Cooper Flagg came in to save the day with a three-pointer from the top of the key and a floating lay-up to take the Mavericks up by five. Jokic and Murray tried to get the Nuggets back into it late with threes and hook shots, but a late three by Naji, along with Cooper’s late flurry and a wide-open missed three by Peyton Watson at the buzzer, helped the Mavs hold on to win 131-130.
Cooper Flagg has arrived
Cooper Flagg was the story from the jump tonight, turning in one of the most impressive performances of his young career a mere two days after turning 19 years old. Flagg finished tonight with 33 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists, on only two turnovers. Cooper showed on a national stage why he was the number one pick back in June, demonstrating his defensive prowess and sharp playmaking IQ. The most impressive part of Flagg’s game was his shooting, going 14-of-21 from the field, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Flagg also did this by shooting 10-of-15 from two, including 13 shots in the paint that resulted in a singular free throw attempt. Flagg was the best player on the court in a night where Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, and Anthony Davis not only played but also produced at high levels. Flagg continues to give the team and the fanbase optimism about whatever is to come.
Time for Gafford to go
Daniel Gafford had a tough night against Denver. Even at the end, when he got to play next to Anthony Davis, and he was cleaning up misses down the stretch, Gafford was got worked by the Denver front line. In 17 minutes, Gafford had just four points and three rebounds. He had the same number of fouls as rebounds, and whenever he was on the floor, the Nuggets attacked him over and over, often finding pay dirt. His minutes in the second and fourth quarters were the minutes that the Nuggets thrived in the most, despite a neutral plus/minus of 0. His defense sometimes lacks awareness around the rim, and as a lone big man, he has been a liability for the Mavericks recently. The sooner the Mavs look into trading him, the better.
Where do we go from here?
The Mavericks continue to put themselves in no man’s land when it comes to the direction they should take the franchise. Obviously, Cooper Flagg’s ascension should be the first and probably the only priority of the Mavericks’ future. Still, the continued positive signs from Anthony Davis, the imminent return of Kyrie Irving, and, of course, beating good teams in the clutch like tonight when they are short-handed, make the decision twice as hard. The Mavericks have solid players and decent assets, but few future draft picks to build around Flagg. There is no correct answer, but sitting in mediocrity and injury-related purgatory is not the place you want to be with a talent like Flagg’s.
