Another Maverick who was not Doncic was Dante Exum, who scored 10 or more points.
Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II walked around in walking boots during Monday morning’s shootaround, which was the first sign that the Mavericks were in for a tough climb up the Rocky Mountains. Luka Doncic was nowhere to be seen.
He was back at the team hotel, sick with something that was not being said.
Doncic was not scared and easily beat Nikola Jokic, who was nominated for MVP, but the desperately short-handed Mavericks lost to the defending NBA champion Nuggets 130–104 in Ball Arena.
Just hours after being named Western Conference Player of the Week, Doncic overcame a slow start and a friendly jab to the jaw from his friend Jokic to finish with 38 points, 11 boards, and 8 assists, making it 11 games in a row that he has scored 30 or more points for the franchise.
But Dante Exum, another Maverick, was the only other player to score 10 or more points.
The 16-10 Mavericks have kept their heads above water by winning six of their last eight games, even though they have lost two games by a total of 44 points, both to the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets.
Coach Jason Kidd said, “We need to be better on defence if we are not scoring.” “Well, I need to do better as a coach after these two games. What is important is that our defence gets better. We can not count on Luka to score 40 points and save us.
Two-time MVP and current Western Conference Player of the Month Nikola Jokic scored 9 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists. Jamal Murray scored 22 points and Aaron Gordon scored 21 points to help the Nuggets (18-10) move ahead of Dallas (16-10) for third place in the West.
Denver, on the other hand, had six players score in double figures, and four of them came off the bench.
The Mavericks, who were 4-0 before this game on Nov. 3, lost by 11 points in the paint after being outscored 68–40. Doncic scored 34 points but also turned the ball over nine times and thought the ridiculously flashy in-season event court was “weird.”
Before the game, coach Jason Kidd said, “We know that our quarterback will be better than nine turnovers tonight.”
But in the first 3:20, Doncic went 0 for 3 and made two mistakes, which seemed to be a sign that he was sick and that Jokic hit him in the face. Doncic, on the other hand, made 13 of 16 shots and had no mistakes for the rest of the first half, scoring 28 points.
It was lucky for the Mavericks that they were only behind 68–59 at that point. But the Nuggets won the game easily by beating Dallas 30–21 in the third quarter.
Even though they have a lot of injuries—Maxim Kleber and Josh Green are out for a long time—the Mavericks had won six of their last seven games going into Monday’s game. The Mavericks also had the third-best road record in the NBA (9-4), but the Nuggets, who are now 11-2 at home, were too good and deep for this Mavericks team.
Michael Malone, the coach of the Nuggets, said that Dallas was a versatile team and was amazed at how many Mavericks have stepped up to fill in for injured players. He gave Exum extra credit for his performance.
When Malone looked at his stats, especially for the last five games, they “jumped off the page.” “Those are the kinds of stories you like to hear: guys who play in the NBA, get kicked out, and then come back. They are given chances to play, and they take them.”
Irving, Lively, Green, and Kleber are still out, and they will not be back for a while. Things will not get easier for Dallas until Christmas, when they play four games in six days, starting with a home game against the hot Clippers on Wednesday.
Kidd said, “Next man up.” “These guys are pros.”You need to be ready. We have been like this for a year now. We have been hurt.
“It can catch up to you sometimes, but at halftime tonight it is only nine points.” It is open to everyone. Not a single player had taken charge of the game, but we can not win if we can not score and get stops.
