Nikola Jokic’s return made for outstanding theater in the NBA Cup, but the return of his alien stat lines was not enough for Denver.
In his first game back after welcoming a newborn son this week, Jokic tallied 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists, but the Nuggets fell 123-120 to the Mavericks on Friday night at Ball Arena. They are 1-2 in the group stage of the second annual in-season tournament.
Michael Porter Jr. scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. Russell Westbrook supplied a 3-point barrage in the fourth quarter to earn closing minutes in a 16-point outing. Peyton Watson went for 15 points, three blocks and three assists. It almost brought Denver back from a 24-point hole.
“You can’t ease into a game and expect to win,” coach Michael Malone said. “And now we’ve gotta get on a plane and go to L.A. and try to get a road win. So hopefully our lesson’s learned. Good half of basketball, but you don’t win in this league by playing a half.”
Jamal Murray’s up-and-down offensive season continued, though, as his 10 assists were overshadowed by a 4-for-16 shooting night. He was also the defender guarding Naji Marshall when Marshall drove to the left for a lead-doubling bucket with 18.8 seconds left. Marshall scored a career-high 26.
A late three by Murray cut the deficit back to one, but Dallas proceeded to make its free throws and foul with a three-point lead and 4.2 seconds left. Denver (8-6) never got another field goal attempt up.
The Nuggets celebrated their MVP’s return with arguably their worst first half of the season. They were out-shot 61% to 42%, outscored 44-20 in the paint and out-rebounded 24-17. The Mavericks converted all seven shots after offensive rebounds for a 15-7 edge in second-chance points and turned Denver’s 11 turnovers into a 13-5 advantage in transition. Many of their paint points were easy layups or dunks.
Murray and Porter combined for 10 points in the half. Jokic’s teammates combined to shoot 10 for 30 from the floor. Four of those 10 made baskets were assisted by Jokic.
“I think a lot of guys exhaled because Nikola was back,” Malone said. “And expected superman to carry the day. And that’s not fair. Do your own job.”
The result was a 73-53 deficit that felt like it should have been worse. And then it got worse, briefly. When Dallas scored the first four points out of halftime, the Nuggets’ lifelong NBA Cup dreams seemed dead.
Their sudden reawakening can best be traced to Porter’s. While Murray continued to struggle, Porter picked him up by knocking down contested 3s, scoring as a driver and as a cutter, making plays on the offensive glass and deflecting passes. It took seven minutes for Denver to rope together a 27-6 run, getting within one possession.
All that loomed was the inevitable reality the Nuggets had gotten accustomed to in the last week: A team that has been so adept at playing from behind this season still needed to survive the minutes without Jokic. While operating in the red.
Enter Westbrook. He’s not a high-percentage shooter, but he has never allowed that to stop him from unleashing open 3s. That confidence worked to his team’s benefit Friday as he drilled a pair. Then he threw himself into the scorer’s table to save a ball inbounds to DeAndre Jordan, who completed a lob from Murray at the other end.
Malone allowed the game clock to trickle down to 7:09 before bringing back Jokic with a four-point deficit. The second unit had tied its minutes. Then Jokic shepherded a quick 8-0 run, no-look passing to Watson for a go-ahead three.
“I just think that we’ve gotta continue to drill it in everybody’s heads that we’re not just gonna come out and win basketball games,” said Watson, who carried the load in the dreaded Kyrie Irving matchup with Luka Doncic out for Dallas. “We’ve gotta come out and play with some purpose and play harder than everybody else.”
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