Jan 12, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) brings the ball up court against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Dallas Mavericks played their second straight home game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, which is also their first game of a back-to-back. Dallas got a big boost to the lineup with Kyrie Irving returning from a five-game absence to play on Tuesday.
The Mavs were still without Luka Doncic, so they started Irving, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively II, while Denver went with Russell Westbrook, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., and Nikola Jokic.
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It was the exact opposite start of Sunday’s game, as the Mavs couldn’t make anything early outside of some point-black attempts by Lively, while Jamal Murray hit three shots from behind the arc as the Nuggets broke out an early 16-6 lead. Jokic hadn’t scored to this point but already had four rebounds and four assists.
That hot start for Murray only continued as he helped extend Denver’s lead to 27-12. Peyton Watson hit a three, and Jokic hit his first shot of the game as the Nuggets took a 32-17 lead, the exact lead Dallas had on Sunday at the end of the first quarter. Murray’s scoop lefty layup at the end of this first quarter gave Denver a 36-21 lead as he had 19 points already.
Denver extended that lead to 20 in the early minutes of the second quarter, getting vintage highlight plays from DeAndre Jordan, who was giving Daniel Gafford fits, as Dereck Lively II had left with an ankle injury by this point. Dallas couldn’t find a way to take advantage of the minutes without Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.
The Mavs went to Maxi Kleber at the five and P.J. Washington as the main defender on Jamal Murray, but that made things worse. With a few minutes remaining in the half, the Nuggets were up 25 as Jamal Murray was up to 28 points. His 32nd point of the game helped Denver take a 71-46 lead into halftime.
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Jokic and Westbrook started to find some success to start the second half, but Maxi Kleber also had seven early points in the half to give the Mavericks some life on offense. But they could never make the game interesting again, as they had dug themselves too deep of a hole. By the end of the third quarter, Dallas had only chipped one point off the lead, trailing 91-67.
A strong start to the quarter by Naji Marshall chipped the lead under 20 for the first time in the second half, and Denver called a timeout after Olivier-Maxence Prosper hit a three to cut it to 16. They could get it down to 14 before a 7-0 run by the Nuggets immediately pushed the lead back to 21 points. From there, the Nuggets would cruise to a 118-99 victory.
Dallas’ leading scorer was Daniel Gafford, who had 13 points. It was that kind of game for the Mavericks. Naji Marshall (11 points), Kyrie Irving (11), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (10), Maxi Kleber (10), and Quentin Grimes (10) were also in double figures.
Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with a season-high 45 points, the fourth most points he’s had in a game in his career. He shot 18/26 from the floor while adding six assists. Nikola Jokic finished with the smallest triple-double he’ll likely ever have: 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Michael Porter Jr. was the only other Nugget in double-figures with 13 points.
Dallas has the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday in New Orleans against the Pelicans.
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