The Denver Nuggets dropped their NBA Cup game against the Dallas Mavericks 123-120 on Friday night.

Nikola Jokic made his return after missing three games due to birth of his son. It looked like Jokic barely missed a beat with 33 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists in just over 39 minutes. He was tremendous for most of the night and forced the Mavericks to commit heavily to the paint to stop him.

Unfortunately for Denver, they had to fight all the way back just to make this a game.

The Nuggets were down by as many as 24 points in this one, struggling against the Mavericks out of the gate. The starters weren’t ready to go, and playing through Jokic seemed to jar the starting unit a bit in the first half. Murray and Porter struggled to find their spots within the offense and appeared bothered by the physicality.

Then, the second half changed things up. The Nuggets started playing more physically themselves, getting some stops and running in transition for easier points. The three-pointers were a big key with Denver hitting 15-of-29 from three on the night, and the Nuggets ultimately took the lead midway through the fourth quarter with a key three-pointer from Peyton Watson.

Denver’s scoring process in the fourth quarter bogged down as the Mavericks collapsed on Jokic. Jamal Murray struggled with his consistency throughout the game and was also thrown the ball late in possessions with few options. Russell Westbrook closed the game over Christian Braun after making four three-pointers and playing some solid defense on the other end. Unfortunately, Westbrook had two shots blocked at the rim in the final five minutes and didn’t impact those clutch minutes otherwise.

On the other end, the Mavericks targeted Murray defensively on several possessions and had success. PJ Washington, Kyrie Irving, and Naji Marshall got what they wanted against Murray going to the basket, and the Nuggets couldn’t keep pace with the Mavericks in the clutch.

“Down the stretch, as we got that lead, we just weren’t able to close it out like we usually see with Nikola and Jamal.”

Inconsistency

“We gotta find a way, and I have to find a way, to get Jamal going,” Michael Malone declared postgame.

The Nuggets starting point guard scored 14 points tonight on 4-of-16 from the field, saved by a high volume of threes tonight, shooting 4-of-11. Murray did log 11 assists and three blocks tonight, so it was a reasonable outing from a production standpoint…except it wasn’t.

As I wrote about prior to the game, it’s been 256 days since Murray has scored 25 points in back-to-back games. I asked Jokic postgame if the Nuggets could use more consistent scoring from Murray, and he gave me the side eye. “Obviously” that look implied.

The Nuggets are in the midst of a 1-3 stretch. The first three of those games were without Jokic, but the moment Jokic comes back can’t just be about giving him the ball to score every single time. Murray and others have to hold up their end of the bargain and not place that entire burden of responsibility on Jokic down the stretch.

“I think a lot of guys exhaled because Jokic was back and expected Superman to save the day,” Malone shared of Denver’s mentality. “Do YOUR job.”

Murray is supposed to do more. In order for the Nuggets to ever win another championship, he’s required to do more. The Nuggets need to get more out of him as soon as possible.

“I’m gonna keep confidence in my guys just like they kept confidence in me in my bad games and bad moments,” Peyton Watson shared postgame.

The Nuggets are displaying confidence and backing Murray after tonight. He’s been in tough situations before and often comes through in clutch minutes. To fully get back into good graces though, he’s going to have to string several good performances together. Because if there’s anything that’s consistent right now, it’s the inconsistency.

Final Rotations