After some much-needed time off, the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets returned to the American Airlines Center for a rematch on Tuesday night. The Mavericks were ready to add Kyrie Irving’s services on the court but were blown out by the Nuggets 118-99. Dallas fell to 22-18 and lost two straight games, while Denver improved to 24-15 and won four consecutive games.
Daniel Gafford led the Mavericks with 13 points, four rebounds, and one assist. Irving followed up with 11 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Naji Marshall added 11 points, two rebounds, and four assists. Quentin Grimes had 10 points and three assists. Maxi Kleber scored 10 points, one rebound, and three assists. Olivier-Maxence Prosper recorded 10 points, two rebounds, and one assist.
Dallas Mavericks vs. Denver Nuggets Recap
The Dallas Mavericks vs. Denver Nuggets game was action-packed from start to finish. The Mavericks ruled out Luka Doncic with a left calf strain and Dante Exum with right wrist surgery and made Irving available. The Nuggets ruled out Vlatko Cancar with left knee surgery rehabilitation and DaRon Holmes II with right Achilles repair and made Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Julian Strawther available.
The Mavericks’ starting lineup featured Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively II. Irving returned to the team’s starting lineup after a five-game injury absence following a lumbar back sprain sustained on January 3, 2025, in a 134-122 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Doncic remains sidelined with a left calf strain sustained on Christmas Day in a 105-99 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Both teams opened the first quarter with fast starts. Lively II’s alley-oop was an early scoring — and highlight-reel — play for the Mavericks. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets’ offense with a connection early on. The Nuggets’ offensive surge stifled the Mavericks for a bit. The Nuggets led 36-21 at the end of the first.
Nuggets Pulled Away
The Nuggets surged in the second quarter to minimize the Mavericks’ chances of winning. Russell Westbrook set up DeAndre Jordan, and Jordan completed a lob connection. Murray’s 32 points were a new first half career-high. Murray joined Nikola Jokic, Allen Iverson, and Nick Van Exel as the only Nuggets to drop 30+ points in a half in the play-by-play era since 1997-98. The Nuggets took a commanding 71-45 lead at halftime.
Both teams poured in the points to open the third quarter but the Mavericks couldn’t make up for their first-half woes. PJ Washington passed the ball to Lively II, and he finished at the rim. He sustained a right ankle sprain though, and then didn’t return to the game. The attention shifted to the Nuggets, as Jokic notched a triple-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. The Nuggets led 91-67 through three quarters.
The Nuggets’ goal entering the fourth quarter was to finish strong. The Nuggets maintained their offensive dominance throughout and reached the 100-point plateau with 7:19 left in regulation. Murray’s step-back middy helped him hit the 40-point mark in the process. The Nuggets won by a final score of 118-99.
Mavericks-Nuggets Highlights
The Dallas Mavericks vs. Denver Nuggets game featured multiple highlights, such as Doncic likely ineligible for the NBA MVP due to the NBA’s rules. However, Doncic can still get his super-max contract extension of five years and $346,338,300 starting in 2026-27 and ending in 2030-31. For now, the Mavericks’ top priority should be to ensure that Doncic is healthy and at his peak on the court ahead of the NBA Playoffs.
For the Mavericks, their ideal trade option would be Dorian Finney-Smith, but they reportedly didn’t make a play for him. The Mavericks might or might not be willing to spend their remaining draft equity but the NBA trade deadline is rapidly approaching. The Mavericks’ potential trades could make or break their roster, which has been shorthanded without their star backcourt duo of Doncic and Irving.
For the Nuggets, Athlon Sports recently reported that the Nuggets’ new trade target, the Charlotte Hornets’ Nick Richards, could fix their lack of frontcourt depth. The Nuggets haven’t looked like an NBA championship-caliber team due to their injuries and bench woes. The Nuggets’ bench is the least productive in the NBA, as DeAndre Jordan is their backup center, and Zeke Nnaji fell out of their rotation altogether.
Final Thoughts
On Sunday, Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook pushed the Denver Nuggets past the Dallas Mavericks 112-101 at the American Airlines Center. Jokic, Westbrook, and the Nuggets awoke from hibernation after hibernating in the first three quarters. The Mavericks led by 19 points in the third quarter, but were outscored 33-12 in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks missed all 11 of their three-point attempts and were outrebounded 15-6 in the fourth.
The Mavericks always strived to play every game with energy and effort, but not so much in Sunday’s fourth quarter compared to the Mavericks’ previous fourth-quarter comebacks. Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd previously acknowledged his team can always control their energy and effort. But the Mavericks’ overexertion of their energy and effort eventually resulted in a 112-101 loss to the Nuggets on Sunday.
The Mavericks played the kind of basketball they needed in Doncic’s and Irving’s absences in Sunday’s game against the Nuggets, but only through three quarters. However, Dallas might’ve run out of gas after expending lots of energy using their defense, and as a result, their well ran dry. The Mavericks’ glasswork, including rebounding, needs attention, as rebounding requires effort and physical and mental attention.
If Sunday’s game had a silver lining, Dallas celebrated a major milestone, as the Mavs ManiAAC’s Rob Maiden, also known as “Big Rob,” performed in his 1,000th regular-season game. The Mavericks’ reported long-planned surprise incorporated Big Rob on the team’s “Copycat Cam” but when he struck a pose for the jumbotron, his teammates pulled out a framed jersey customized with “1K” instead of a traditional number.
The Dallas Mavericks will take on the New Orleans Pelicans in the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Central. The Mavericks’ energy and effort can result in a win over the Pelicans, but it’s unclear if the Pelicans will put the Mavericks to the test and ultimately play spoiler. The Pelicans fell to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics 120-119 at TD Garden on Sunday but beat the Chicago Bulls 119-113 at the United Center on Tuesday.
