Next man up never meant more to the Nuggets than it did Monday night.
After Jamal Murray was ejected for an apparent shot below the belt, Michael Porter Jr. rose to the occasion. With 11 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers, Porter saved the Nuggets from what would’ve been a deflating, demoralizing defeat.
Instead, the Nuggets took down the Mavericks 117-113, improving to 10-7 on the year and extending their winning streak to four. They’ll carry all that momentum in Wednesday’s contest at Miami.
Nikola Jokic had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, logging his 17th consecutive double-double to start the season. His steady play wouldn’t have been enough without Porter’s bubbling confidence.
Up 111-107 with 41 seconds remaining, the game didn’t feel solidified until Porter’s dagger 3-pointer gave the Nuggets an even comfier cushion.
Together, he and Jokic held off Luka Doncic, whose 35-point, 16-assist, 11-rebound night kept the Mavericks close until the final buzzer.
Murray’s frustration was palpable from the start of the third quarter. Already banged up with a balky elbow and shoulder, Murray was irked less than a minute into the second half when he thought he got fouled only to turn it over. He immediately came down, wrapped up and fouled a Mavs player just to make a point.
His frustration didn’t abate. Several minutes later, with the Nuggets’ offense scuffling and Murray still feeling like he was getting knocked around, he got tangled up with Tim Hardaway Jr. It was after a review, and an apparent shot near Hardaway’s groin, that Murray drew the ejection. He finished with 16 points in 25 minutes.
With Denver up 80-73, Hardaway led a huge run that flipped momentum and gave the Mavs a 90-83 lead of their own with 2:27 left in the third. With Murray out, the Nuggets turned to Porter, who continued his sizzling outside shooting. The Nuggets weathered the run – and the ejection – and headed to the fourth down just 94-92.
That they were that close, after combo guard PJ Dozier left the game in the first half with a right hamstring injury, was a testament their ever-growing confidence.
That confidence has extended to Gary Harris, too. In Harris’ last seven games entering Monday, he was shooting 44% from 3-point range with 17 3-pointers. He finished with 10 and two 3-pointers.
In their first meeting, a Dallas overtime win earlier this month, the Mavs knocked down 16 3-pointers. And entering Monday, the Nuggets were 25th in the NBA at opponents’ made 3-point field goals.
“We’ve had quarters where we give up five, six, seven threes, and then you see quarters, halves, stretches where we really lock down and guard the 3-point line at a high level,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We’re 8-3 in our last 11 games. A big part of that is we have a top-10 defense in the last 11 games.
“A lot of those (3s) are in transition,” he said. “Not pointing, talking, matching, not finding the shooters. Some of that is in the half court, obviously, one-on-one containment. If you have to help, that opens up the 3-point line, and some of those are in pick-and-rolls.”
Denver’s perimeter defense was far more connected than it was over the weekend. The Mavs were just 4-of-15 from 3-point range in the first half. And the Nuggets’ offense suffered no ill effects of their back-to-back overtime wins of Phoenix this past weekend.
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In total, four Nuggets reached double-figures in the first half, including two others with eight points each. Their 15 first-half assists were a testament to the pace and purpose the ball moved with. Porter and Green led the bench mob, combining for 22 points and four 3-pointers.
Porter’s off-ball activity was fantastic. Instead of waiting for the ball to find him, he moved and made himself a 6-foot-10 target that Jokic was more than willing to indulge.
Outside of Doncic, who had 21 points and nine assists in the first half, Denver’s defense was stout. Their 28-14 edge on the glass sealed off Dallas’ second-chance opportunities.
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