Dallas Mavericks

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Denver, CO - The Denver Nuggets still sit atop the Western Conference standings and have a chance to add to their three-game winning streak tonight against the Dallas Mavericks. The Nuggets and Mavericks are meeting for the first time this season after splitting the season series in 2017-18.

The Nuggets come in with a 20-9 record and undefeated during their current home stand with wins over Memphis, Oklahoma City and Toronto. In Sunday’s win over the Eastern Conference’s top team, the Nuggets battled back as Jamal Murray scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and Denver came away with a 95-86 win at Pepsi Center.

The Mavericks are much improved from last season, having won 15 games already compared to the 24 games they won all last season. The Mavericks are 15-13 this season, with most of their success coming at home. Dallas is 13-3 at home and just 2-10 on the road. The Mavericks have lost two in a row to the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns.

Slowing Dallas’ rookie sensation: Luka Doncic was one of the most accomplished players prior to the 2018 NBA Draft, having piled up accolades while playing in Europe, and the Mavericks’ rookie is off to a sizzling start in the NBA. The 6’7” Slovenian is averaging 18.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Doncic leads all rookies in scoring, is second in assists and third in rebounding.

Taking care of business: The Nuggets have been excellent at Pepsi Center this season, going 12-3 at home. Denver hasn’t lost in the Mile High City since November 13. The Nuggets average 111.9 points at home compared to 106.8 on the road.

The Mavericks have had their fair share of struggles on the road this season. Dallas is just 2-10 on the road so far. The Mavericks average just 104.6 points on the road compared to 113.6 points at home.

Three-point defense: After allowing just seven made threes the Nuggets improved to 14-1 when keeping their opponents from making more than nine threes. The Nuggets have held their opponents to the lowest three-point percentage in the league at 31.7%.

The Mavericks make the ninth most threes per game at 11.5 a night, while shooting 34.3% from deep.

Tonight’s game will tip at 7 pm MT and will air on Altitude TV and the AltitudeNOW app. Fans can listen on Altitude Radio, 92.5 FM.

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Game Preview: Nuggets Look to Extend Winning Streak Against Mavs

DALLAS – Devastating 3-point shooting had been the Nuggets’ thing. But on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center, the Mavericks took that page from the Nuggets script and ran with it.

Dallas made 15-of-27 3-pointers, and the Nuggets could not withstand the barrage of long range shots, eventually falling 118-107, which snapped a four-game road winning streak.

“A very disappointing effort,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “A very disappointing defensive effort, and we’ve just got to go home and try to get one (on Wednesday).”

The bulk of the damage was done by two players – star forward Dirk Nowitzki and guard Yogi Ferrell. Together, they combined to make all of their first 10 3-point attempts and finished a combined 11-of-14 from the arc. Ferrell finished with a season-high 24 points.

“Those guys played well,” Malone said. “So, tip your hat and give them some credit.”

The Nuggets finished the three-game road trip 2-1.

The Nuggets had a 62-58 lead at halftime after outscoring the Mavericks 37-29 in the second quarter. But Dallas turned the tables quickly in the third quarter, and held the Nuggets to just 22 points in the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory.

Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets with 21 points. Will Barton had 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Paul Millsap had 12 points and six rebounds, but hit just 3-of-10 shots from the field. Gary Harris had 11 points, and Mason Plumlee, Malik Beasley and Trey Lyles each had 10 points.

“Overall, our effort was lacking, it was a bad game for us,” Malone said. “But there were certain individuals that I thought had good games.”

Christopher Dempsey: christohper.dempsey@altitude.tv and @chrisadempsey on Twitter

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Nuggets Fall to Hot-Shooting Mavericks

DALLAS – The Nuggets enter Tuesday night’s game at the Dallas Mavericks with the chance to do something they haven’t done in six years – sweep a road trip of at least three games.

If the Nuggets win, it would be the first road sweep of at least three games since January 2012, and the longest streak of consecutive road wins overall (5) since winning six in a row in March 2013. The five straight roads wins would also tie for the second-longest road winning streak in team history.

The Nuggets are 1-6 in their last seven games at the American Airlines Center. That one win was recent – last season – but the Nuggets are 0-1 in Dallas this season. The Mavericks own one of the NBA’s worst records (19-45), but are fully capable of turning in a winning performance in front of their home crowd.

“I think the big thing is containing their guards,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Even when Devin (Harris) was there, we had a hard time containing their quick guards. Why is that a problem? Because it leads to layups, it leads to offensive rebounds and drive-and-kick threes. They take a lot of threes, and when they make threes off of drive-and-kick, they become a very tough team to guard.

“One-on-one containment and our ability to guard the 3-point line are probably the most important things.”

A win also keeps the Nuggets on solid footing in the Western Conference playoff race, where it seems all of the other hopefuls are winning games every night. How tight is the race? The Nuggets are in eighth, but are just two games out of the third spot. They are also two games from the 10th spot.

“That’s why it is important to win the games you’re supposed to, and continue to take it one game at a time,” Malone said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun and exciting. You’ve got eight teams battling for six spots.”

Christopher Dempsey: christopher.dempsey@altitude.tv and @chrisadempsey on Twitter

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Game Preview: Nuggets in Dallas, Eye Road Trip Sweep

As Tim Connelly, Nuggets president of basketball operations, and his staff surveyed the roster during the pre-All Star portion of the season, it was quickly apparent to them that additional veteran experience was needed on the roster.

So, they addressed that need by acquiring Dallas guard Devin Harris on Thursday. He comes to the Nuggets along with a 2018 second-round pick in a three-team deal that sent former lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay to New York. Doug McDermott, meanwhile, went from the Knicks to the Mavericks.

“As we approach the stretch run, firmly entrenched in a battle for the playoffs, I think that Harris’s veteran savvy, his versatility – I think he’s played in 60-plus playoff games – coming from a quality program like Dallas, his impact will be huge as we play these next 28 games,” Connelly said.

Harris has played plenty of games in 14 seasons in the NBA, particularly in the playoffs. He’s played in 64 playoff games and averaged 9.1 points, 2.6 assists and 1.9 rebounds in those contests. This season for the Mavericks, Harris was averaging 8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 18.3 minutes per game.

The Nuggets got an up-close look at how effective Harris could be in their games against Dallas this season. In two games against the Nuggets, Harris averaged 15.0 points on 52 percent shooting, and he nailed seven 3-pointers, shooting 53.8 percent from the arc.

Connelly said Harris’ playoff experience was a big factor when the organization targeted him for a possible trade.

“Quite a bit,” Connelly said. “Devin has played every role imaginable in his NBA career. So that flexibility certainly is helpful when acquiring a guy midseason. He’s seen it all.”

As for Mudiay, the former No. 7 pick overall in the 2015 NBA draft, Connelly said it was tough seeing him go.

“It’s certainly a bittersweet day,” Connelly said. “Emmanuel is a fantastic person. I got to know him and his family really well. When you make a trade with someone you’re close with, it’s with mixed emotions. We have such a young roster we felt it made sense to get a little bit older behind Jamal, with Jamal’s emergence. New York got a good basketball player and a very, very good person. I’m really cheering hard for Emmanuel. He put everything into this city and into this team, and sometimes a fresh start is what’s necessary, a change of scenery. Certainly, I think New York got a great kid.

“Through a lot of ups and downs we saw him mature as a person and as a player and we hope that maturation process continues in New York.”

The Mudiay-Harris deal was the only trade the Nuggets made on Thursday.

“I don’t think this deadline was especially pressure-filled for us,” Connelly said. “We were pretty specific in what we wanted to accomplish. We targeted certain players in deals and set out to achieve those goals. I think so much credit needs to go to our coaching staff for keeping our team as competitive as it has been with the loss of a four-time All-Star for nearly the whole season.

“We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries. It has not been an easy schedule recently, and I’m really proud of how our team has stayed above water and firmly entrenched ourselves in the second half of the Western Conference playoff chase. It’s excited to think we’re a couple of weeks away from having a fully healthy roster, which we haven’t been able to say all year. It’s a testament to the guys in the locker room, it’s a testament to the coaching staff.”

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Nuggets Add Playoff Experience With Addition of Devin Harris

The minute the Mavericks got Saturday night’s game into the fourth quarter, the chess match was on. The Nuggets had played themselves into a corner. Now, it was time to sort through the muck and find a way to win.

And the muck was more than just the Mavericks, who had put themselves in position to win. It was the Nuggets getting out of their own way seeing their way to a victory. They eventually did just that in a 91-89 win over the Mavericks at the Pepsi Center.

“We were down nine in the fourth quarter, and it seemed there was just a lot of negative energy on our bench and in our huddles,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And what I liked was that we found a way to get past that and understand that we needed to win this game. Put all of the personal, petty stuff to the side and let’s remember what our collective goal is – to win this game and protect our home court.”

The Nuggets turned up the defense in the fourth quarter to accomplish that goal, outscoring the Mavericks 25-15 to rally from down nine early in the period to overtake the Mavericks. They also overcame nine personal foul calls, which resulted in seven free throw attempts for Dallas. The Mavericks only made three of those.

And then the Nuggets got a big fourth out of Jamal Murray, who did not start the game after a “violation of team rules,” Malone said. Murray scored 10 points in the fourth, and Gary Harris made every shot he took from anywhere on the court in the fourth to score seven in the period. Their offense, combined with the Nuggets defense, put them over the top.

This was the Nuggets’ third straight victory, moving them to 3-1 on the home stand. They improved to 26-23 overall and 19-6 at home.

Malone said Harris’s voice in huddles turned out to be vital in getting the Nuggets on track. Harris said he was just doing what he had to do.

“I was just trying to make sure everybody was locked in,” Harris said. “We had to get this win. If we were going to win, we all had to be on the same page. I was just trying to make sure we were all on the same page.”

When Wesley Matthews made a 3-pointer with 1:32 to play – his first of the night – the game was tied at 89. Nikola Jokic gave the Nuggets the lead with a jumper at 1:12, which proved to be the game-winning shot. The Nuggets got stops on the last three Mavericks possessions to seal the win.

Harris led the Nuggets with 24 points. Jokic collected the eighth triple-double of his career with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Murray finished with 15 points in his reserve role. Trey Lyles recorded a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Neither team shot the ball well, but the Nuggets did make 12 3-pointers in the contest.

“It was a collective effort,” Malone said. “Everybody just kind of realized that ‘I can’t let this silly, personal stuff get in the way of what we are trying to accomplish.’ I’m not naïve. We’ve been together for a long time now. You’re not going to like me at times, and I’m not going to like you at times. But at the end of the day, we have to respect each other and find ways to come together and make sure these things don’t linger.

“That’s a challenge. You’re with these guys more than you’re with your own family. It’s not going to be perfect every day. I think our guys understand that. As long as we don’t lose sight of the greater cause, and that is to win as many games as we can.”

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Nuggets Shake Off Cold-Shooting, Rally to Beat Mavs

Things are getting real for the Nuggets as the NBA season crosses over the halfway point and winds toward the All-Star break. The Nuggets are in a three-way tie at 22-21 in the Western Conference playoff race, and, with the current ties being broken, they stand in eighth place.

Coach Michael Malone can see some of the mental fatigue on his bunch as the pressure mounts to stay among the top eight spots in the conference, but also sees a hopeful second-half of the season.

“We’re a team hopefully trending in the right direction,” Malone said. “This past seven or eight games hasn’t been a great stretch for us overall, and obviously I think fatigue has definitely set in. And our youth is not an excuse, it’s a reality. We are playing a lot of young players. … We’re not satisfied but we’re moving in the right direction.”

The Nuggets are in the midst of a home-heavy schedule in January and February. The Dallas Mavericks are Tuesday night’s challenge at the Pepsi Center – the first of back-to-back games that finish in Los Angeles on Wednesday against the Clippers. And the Mavericks, who have beaten the Nuggets once this season already, are playing good basketball with wins in six of their last 10 games.

Starting with Tuesday night’s game, Malone wants to see optimal effort each night out.

“I hate to lose more than I like to win, but it is how you lose,” Malone said. “Overall, my message would be this: Play hard. Yeah, you’re young, you’re tired and all of this stuff. But we have to find a way every night we step on the court. … If we play hard every night, we’ll give ourselves a chance, while creating the right habits and culture that we need moving forward.”

What do the Nuggets need to do to be in position to beat the Mavericks? Start with these things…

Be mindful of the… two-point shot?: Yep. In the first meeting between the two teams, the Mavericks first 12 made two-point shots all came in the paint. They made 37 2-point shots overall – one fewer than the total number of makes the Nuggets had from the field total. And Dallas’ makes came in all varieties – but most of all, the Mavericks were deadly in transition and in drives to the basket. The Nuggets are a much better defensive team now than on Dec. 4, in the first meeting, but it is a difficult challenge all the same. There are a number of ball-handlers that can get to the rim. One-on-one defense has to be stout, and help defense must be quick and decisive.

Force Harrison Barnes to shoot from further than 10 feet: As Harrison Barnes has grown over the course of his career, so has his understanding of his game and patience on the court. Barnes has been persistent about getting to the rim this season, using his size to overpower smaller players and his quickness to get by bigger defenders. He’s taking 28 percent of his shots (197 overall) inside of five feet. It’s the largest chunk of the shots Barnes takes overall and he’s shooting 60.4 percent on them. Against the Nuggets he posted up eight times out of his 18 shot attempts. Barnes was 4-of-8 on those attempts, and the Mavericks flat-out targeted him, putting him in screen rolls knowing the Nuggets would switch up top, then posting him up on smaller defenders. The Nuggets only brought more than one defender once. Barnes was 4-of-7 when single-covered on post ups. The Nuggets may have to fight through screens to keep Wilson Chandler on Barnes as much as possible.

Take advantage of size: The Mavericks force teams to play a lot of small lineups, but the Nuggets start big in the front court with Mason Plumlee and Nikola Jokic. Jokic was injured and did not play in the first meeting on Dec. 4, so that’s a big deal for the Nuggets this time around. The Nuggets could play up a size advantage while still being nimble enough on defense with Plumlee’s athleticism to be able to be solid against a ton of movement, passing and cutting from Mavericks offensive players.

INJURY REPORT: Paul Millsap (wrist) is out of tonight’s game.

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Game Preview: What to Watch For in the Nuggets Game Against the Mavericks

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