DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks were hoping to open the second half of the regular season with a win but instead received a beating from the Denver Nuggets, 114-104, on Friday at the American Airlines Center.
Nikola Jokic almost had a triple-double for the Nuggets, finishing the game with 19 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in just 30 minutes of action. Paul Millsap tallied 17 points and 13 boards and Monte Morris came off the bench to plug in 16 markers.
The Mavericks, who dropped their third game in a row, were only trailing by one at the half before the Nuggets went berserk with a 39-point outburst in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. With more opportunities in transition and a huge advantage in second-chance points, Denver was able to establish a lead as high as 24.
"We played a good team. They were physical, they were into it and making it tough (for us)," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after the game.
But Carlisle said it was the lack of effort in the rebounding department that pretty much led to their downfall.
"The rebounding was the biggest problem all night. We had a huge deficit (in rebounds) at halftime and it grew as the game went on," he said. "We talked a lot about it coming in, and we talked about it during halftime. We knew we had to get more people involved, but they've got three phenomenal rebounders with Jokic, Millsap and (Mason) Plumlee and they just beat us to death. That was the big thing, those guys each had 13 rebounds. We just gotta rebound better and it's gotta be by committee."
The Nuggets dominated in that area, hauling down 63 rebounds, 21 of which came on the offensive end. The Mavericks, meanwhile, only managed to grab 42 boards.
"We gotta rebound better and get more stops, that'll help our offense. Our execution can always be better, even when it's good," he added. "(But) this game was about the boards and defending. We just didn't answer the bell."
With Luka Doncic sitting out the game due to a sore right ankle, the Mavericks saw 11 guys play over 10 minutes of action, which Carlisle thought also messed up the team's flow on offense.
"Well I didn't like a lot about it because it meant that we had periods where we were looking for guys to play well," he said. "Coming into a game, you always have an idea of what the rotation might look like. It went a little haywire (tonight) but in this situation, and you got a guy like Doncic who's not playing, a lot of things can happen."
Though Carlisle described Doncic's injury as "not serious," they are unsure if he will suit up against the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Doncic, averaging 20.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists, missed only his third game this season and is listed as day-to-day.
