The Nuggets finally got their sweet, sweet revenge against the Dallas Mavericks when they visited the Mile High City just one week after their worst loss of the season.
In their second meeting this season, the Nuggets defeated the Mavs 117-107. The starting lineup within the three games of this home stand have been game changers for the Nuggets! Since being defeated by the Mavs, the Nuggets responded by winning four of their last five games and this has been their first three game winning streak of the season.
Since the change in starters, the Nuggets have scored 30 or more points in 8 of the last 12 quarters that they have played and are averaging 125 points per game.
Nikola Jokic led all scorers with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists…just ONE assist short of his first ever triple-double. Danilo Gallinari, Jokic, Wilson Chandler, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Gary Harris outscored the Mavericks starters 100-58 and all Nuggets starters ended the game in the double digits.
This. Team. Is. On. Fire!
The team had an improvement tonight from our free throw shooting on Saturday night. Tonight we shot 77.8% from the line, only missing four of the eighteen shots taken. They continued to attack the paint tonight, making 52 of their points from within!
Tonight the Nuggets shot 57% from the field and 54.2% from downtown! Continuing to prove that they are the best rebounding team in the league, they had 33 defensive rebounds and seven offensive rebounds for the night!
Both the Nuggets and Mavs had 12 turnovers. However, the Nuggets were able to make 11 points off of turnovers while the Mavericks were able to make 20 points off of turnovers.
While Deron Williams was the high scorer for the Mavericks, his 23 points weren’t enough to put a stop to the Nuggets tonight. The Mavericks shot 53.1% from the field and 56% from the three-point line. Identical to the Nuggets free throw percentage, the Mavericks also shot 77.8% from the line, missing two of their nine free throws. After tonight, the Mavs head back home to Dallas with their fourth loss in a row, leading them to a 7-21 ratio.
Now that this home stand is over, it’s time for the Nuggets to head out to LA tonight to face the Clippers at the Staples Center tomorrow night. It’s finally time to take this show back out on the road and show the rest of the league what they’re made of.
The Nuggets are currently just .5 behind Portland for the 8th seed in the Western conference. While a back-to-back game is concerning and admittedly exhausting, the Nuggets can’t use that as an excuse to lose tomorrow’s game. The only way to prove that this team is making a turnaround is if they go out to LA tomorrow and prove it on the court by playing a full 48 minutes.