Nikola Jokic and his Denver Nuggets returned to the winning path by defeating the Dallas Mavericks with a score of 125-114.
Following their first NBA season loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Mike Malone’s team made a perfect recovery and celebrated the victory at the “Ball Arena,” which had a slightly different court design due to this game also being part of the NBA Cup.
As usual, the standout performer was the Serbian center, Nikola Jokic, who recorded 33 points on 14-of-16 shooting, 14 rebounds, and nine assists. This performance handed Dallas its first loss of the season and added another mark to Jokic’s record against Luka Doncic.
By halftime, to which Malone’s team led 70-55, Jokic had already notched 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Denver built a significant 16-point lead during the first 12 minutes of the game, scoring 40 points while allowing only 24. They continued to play at a high tempo, preventing the opponent from narrowing the gap to single digits. The Nuggets had a maximum lead of 20 points in the middle of the third quarter, and in the final minutes of the quarter, Josh Green provided Dallas with a glimmer of hope with his three-pointers.
Luka Doncic stepped up in the crucial fourth quarter, aided by Kyrie Irving, who finished the game with 22 points. The Slovenian international managed to bring his team within “only” a nine-point deficit at one point. Dallas was down by ten with five minutes remaining, but perhaps the decisive moment was Jokic’s alley-oop pass to Aaron Gordon, which caught many by surprise. Doncic made a last-ditch effort with a three-pointer to bring the score to 119-110 with 99 seconds left, but the Nuggets sealed the game with two more field goals from Jokic.
Michael Porter Jr. followed his MVP with 24 points, while Jamal Murray scored 18 points and dished out 13 assists. Doncic, like Jokic, flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 34 points, ten rebounds, and eight assists but also committed nine turnovers. Irving scored 22 points.
After the game, Doncic took responsibility for their first loss of the season, saying:
“There are a lot of positive things we should focus on. We lost the game because of my turnovers and the lack of rhythm in our offense. If this had happened last season, we would have lost by 30.”