The Dallas Mavericks came into Monday night’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets losers of five of their last seven games, losing by an average of 15.6 points per game. Their five wins were worst in the NBA and they were without Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bogut and J.J. Barea. Still, Dallas sent the Nuggets back to Denver with a 20-point loss.
Wesley Matthews scored 25 points and the last-place Mavericks ended Denver’s six-game road trip with a 112-92 loss, Denver’s seventh in 10 games. Denver’s starters were out-hustled and overmatched as Rick Carlisle thoroughly out-coached Michael Malone despite being without key players.
Four of Malone’s five starters finished with negative double-digit plus/minus lines including Emmanuel Mudiay and Will Barton, who were -20 and -25 respectively. Nikola Jokic was the lone bright spot for Denver, scoring 27 off the bench to go with 11 rebounds. Denver shot just 7-of-25 from 3-point range in the loss.
Denver ends its longest road trip of the season at 2-4 and is now 9-16 on the season. The Nuggets host Portland and New York on Thursday and Saturday before a rematch with the Mavericks on Monday, all at Pepsi Center.
