For most of the night, it felt like the Mavericks were daring the Nuggets to keep up.
Dallas blitzed Denver early, survived the inevitable comeback, and then leaned on its two stars when the game tightened to steal a 131-130 win Tuesday night. Cooper Flagg was everywhere, scoring, rebounding, creating, while Anthony Davis punished Denver inside, and together they carried Dallas through a finish that had just about everything.
The Nuggets erased a 21-point hole, briefly grabbed control in the fourth, and still had a chance to win it in the final seconds. But after a late stop forced a 24-second violation, Peyton Watson’s corner three at the horn spun off the rim. Dallas escaped, snapped a brief skid, and handed Denver its first road loss in nearly a month.
Cooper Flagg Completely Ran The Game
Flagg’s stat line jumps off the page: 33 points, nine rebounds, nine assists on 14-of-21 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three. What made the performance stand out was how varied it was. He scored off cuts, in transition, off the dribble, and as a spot-up shooter. In the first quarter alone, he poured in 14 points and didn’t miss a shot, setting the tone before Denver ever settled in.
Late, he was just as impactful without forcing offense. His fourth three of the night pushed Dallas ahead 126-121, and his assist to Naji Marshall for a corner three with 1:12 left gave the Mavericks their final cushion. Dallas led for 90 percent of the game, and Flagg was the biggest reason why. It wasn’t a triple-double, but it was close enough to feel like one.
Anthony Davis Punished Denver’s Interior All Night
Davis was extremely dominant on the offensive boards throughout the game, scoring 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting and grabbing nine rebounds. Giving the team a steady presence inside the paint, Davis was able to score on both traditional post-up opportunities and his athletic rolls to the hoop. Denver didn’t offer any real resistance against him when they tried to double-team him with Nikola Jokic, since he was still able to score even with the contact.
Dallas dominated the scoring in the paint with 66 points to Denver’s 50, but they also grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, most of which were created by Davis putting pressure on Denver’s bigs inside. He also contributed to the game defensively with three steals by jumping the passing lanes when Denver attempted to run their offense through Jokic. Davis provided a solid scoring option for the Dallas offense when they needed to slow the pace of the game through Flagg.
Denver’s Stars Delivered, But The Early Hole Proved Costly
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic did everything they could to pull Denver back into it. Murray finished with 31 points and 14 assists, Jokic added 29 points and 14 assists, and the Nuggets shot a scorching 57 percent from the field and 49 percent from three. On paper, those numbers usually win games.
The problem was the start. Denver fell behind 50-29 early in the second quarter and spent the rest of the night chasing. Even after taking their first lead at 106-103 early in the fourth, they never fully seized control. Despite 39 team assists and elite shooting efficiency, the Nuggets committed 15 turnovers.
Dallas Barely Survived, But That’s What Matters
The final two minutes were messy. Dallas missed chances to extend the lead, turned the ball over, and nearly gave the game away. Denver pulled within one in the final minute and forced a shot-clock violation with 7.8 seconds left, setting up a potential game-winner.
However, it was the stop that really made the difference: Peyton Watson received a wide-open pass from the left corner, but his shot hit the front rim and fell out. Despite this, after finishing the game with 14 makes to 15 attempts at the charity stripe, and turning the ball over fewer times than the Nuggets (11 vs 15), Dallas executed just enough key plays towards the end of regulation in order to pull out the victory. It wasn’t the smoothest way to get a win, but in terms of getting one vs a team like the Nuggets, it all counts equally as much.
