The Denver Nuggets started the game a little slow against the Dallas Mavericks, but they quickly got things rolling and were within one point of the Mavericks at the halfway point of the first quarter with a score of 10-11. Coming out of the midquarter break, Denver’s defense was a bit of a struggle as they gave up seven points in 90 seconds which forced a timeout out of acting head coach Popeye Jones. The two sides struggled with offense for the remainder of the first quarter and put up a total of just 44 points with the Nuggets trailing 20-24 on the road.

To start the second quarter, the Nuggets defense remained a struggle as the Mavericks quickly started to build a lead behind some strong shooting from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Denver’s offense was inconsistent at best as they attempted to chip away at the lead. As the second quarter wore on, the Mavericks tried to pull away from Denver, but a late surge allowed Denver to stay within single digits by a score of 37-46.

In the third quarter, the team’s got the offense rolling a little bit more, but it was still one of the quietest offensive nights in the association. Denver had the highest-scoring quarter of the night by either side with 26 in the period as they were working to claw their way back into the game behind strong nights from Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic who had 36 combined points on 16-of-23 shooting from the field.

In the fourth quarter, the defense for both sides took the rest of the game off, but, unfortunately for Denver, it was their defense that really sat the game out. They gave up 34 points in the quarter and were outscored 34-26, and it was the waste of a strong night by Jokic and Gordon who finished with 42 of the team’s 89 points. For Dallas, they got scoring from everywhere with all five of their starters finishing in double figures. This ended Denver’s winning streak as they now head back home to match up with the Utah Jazz.

Stat Leaders

Points: Nikola Jokic – 27

Assists: Will Barton – 6

Rebounds: Jokic – 16

Player of the Game: Nikola Jokic – 27 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 11-of-18 field goal, 1-of-4 3-point, 4-of-4 free throw