The Denver Nuggets rolled the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night 118-99 to win the season series against a fellow playoff contender.

It was a banner night for Jamal Murray, who dropped a season high 45 points to go with six assists. Murray show the ball efficiently all night, effectively ending the game by halftime with an incredible first half.

The Nuggets won the first half 71-45 in large part due to 32 points from Murray. He was absolutely on fire for the entire half, and the Nuggets kept feeding him relentlessly. The Mavericks chose not to double team him for a while, and that allowed Murray to bob and weave to his favorite spots on the court. The jumper was going from all zones, and the finishing around the rim was incredibly impressive as well.

Denver rode that wave into the second half and were never really in danger from the Mavericks at any point. Denver’s defense was consistent in the first three quarters, allowing 21, 24, and 22 points in each respective period. Murray’s defense was strong. Jokic’s rim deterrence and rebounding were notable, and the defense on Kyrie Irving was especially impressive. Irving had some tough finishes over Jokic, but he finished with 11 points on 4-of-18 from the field otherwise, and the Nuggets contested all of his difficult shots fairly well tonight.

The perimeter trio of Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun, and Peyton Watson probably had the most reps chasing around Irving all night, so they deserve the lion share of the credit for constantly challenging the star point guard in his first game back from injury.

Nobody on the Mavericks scored more than 13 points in this game, highlighting Denver’s attention to detail on the game plan (and some poor shooting from the Mavericks to aid things).

Jokic had a triple-double on the minimum threshold of seven shots tonight, putting up 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists in 29 minutes. He was very comfortable feeding Murray and screening for him consistently with Murray having it going. The Nuggets have a back-to-back against the Houston Rockets tomorrow, so Jokic being able to save some scoring and not having to enter the game in the fourth quarter could help the Nuggets out.

Michael Porter Jr. had 13 points and six rebounds on 3-of-4 from three. He was also very willing to dish the ball to Murray consistently.

The Nuggets bench was less effective tonight offensively, but it didn’t really matter with the performance Murray put together. Denver will need to be more locked in with their bench unit tomorrow against the Rockets, but it’s a problem for tomorrow, not in the near 20-point win against the Mavericks,

Denver wins the season series against the Mavericks 3-1 and clinches the head-to-head tiebreaker, which could mean a lot when April rolls in and the playoff standings start to really matter. The Nuggets won on both Sunday and Tuesday. Had they split or lost both games, Denver’s viability for being a top 4 seed would have dropped considerably. Now, they’re in comfortable position a mere 0.5 games back of the Grizzlies for the third seed while Dallas is percentage points away from the play-in with Luka Doncic still recovering from injury for multiple weeks.

This was a BIG swing for the Nuggets.

Blue Arrow Shatters the Target

Pregame, I wrote about how Jamal Murray had struggled in this Mavericks matchup so far this season, shooting just 18-of-51 from the field in the first three contests. The Nuggets guard looked uncomfortable navigating in space and creating separation against a tough and versatile defensive wing trio of Naji Marshall, Quentin Grimes, and Klay Thompson.

Tonight, Murray made that sentiment look foolish. Here’s a direct quote:

“This is a bad matchup for the Nuggets guard, who’s also dealing with knee inflammation. Murray’s probable for tonight. Can he be effective as a scorer against Mavericks perimeter defenders? We will see.”

FOOLISH. Murray dropped 45 and showed off the burst tonight. He looked great out there, and more importantly, he looked comfortable and at ease. That cool confidence was on display early and often as Murray drained jumper after jumper from everywhere on the floor. It was awesome to watch.

45 points is the most he’s scored he’s scored since 2021, an epic 50-point performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which Murray shot 21-of-25 from the field and attempted zero free throws. This game wasn’t quite like that one, but it was fun and cathartic for the Nuggets and Nuggets fans. The team’s better and happier when Murray plays well. When Jokic plays well, it’s just another game. When Porter plays well, it’s a positive, but it’s becoming more commonplace.

When Murray plays like that, the Nuggets are incredibly dangerous. They’ve got most other factors needed to be successful, but another dynamic scorer that can win a game with shotmaking is the ace in the hole. This was just Murray’s second 30-point game of the season. If he can continue to string these games together, the Nuggets go from a playoff contender to a championship contender in a hurry.

Final Rotations