DALLAS — Luka Doncic had no mercy. Not even for his fellow countryman.
Late in the third quarter, Doncic stepped back and canned a 3-pointer in the face of fellow Slovenian Vlatko Cancar. The Nuggets’ reserve forward offered a choice word or two and a mischievous smile swept across Doncic’s face. Doncic did whatever he wanted Friday night against the Nuggets, spearheading a commanding 127-99 win.
Back in Denver after both entering health and safety protocols, neither Nikola Jokic nor Jamal Murray could do anything to stem the rout. Aaron Gordon, who stayed back as well for the first of Denver’s two-game set against Dallas, wasn’t available either due to a non-COVID illness. The talent gap was stark, as Denver dropped its second straight game and fell to 9-6 on the season.
The Nuggets will try to solve the Doncic riddle again on Sunday when they face these same Mavericks a second time. Doncic finished his masterpiece with 33 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the 50th triple-double of his career. His dominance was reminiscent of a Jokic performance.
Bruce Brown drew the defensive assignment and played well in Murray’s absence. He and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each scored a team-high 18 points. But their supporting cast — Michael Porter Jr. and Bones Hyland — wasn’t there. Porter managed only 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting, and Hyland tallied 17 on 5-of-16 shooting.
If nothing else following Dallas’ 44-point second quarter, Denver’s effort improved drastically to start the second half. But rather than cutting into the double-digit margin, the Nuggets played the Mavs nearly even. Whichever unlucky Nuggets defender found themselves on Doncic island was quickly deserted. He backed down smaller defenders, drove through others and drained jumpers in the face of quality contests.
Late in the third, he was serenaded by MVP chants. Denver’s best retort was Brown, whose energy was infectious but ultimately futile. His rim-rattling jam punctuated Denver’s fight, but the Nuggets were fighting an uphill battle. They entered the fourth down 105-83 with the game essentially settled.
Given all of Denver’s noticeable absences, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he’d deferred to Denver’s sports medicine staff to handle protocol.
“Obviously we’ve had some outbreaks lately,” he said prior to tip-off Friday night. “Try to be smart.”
But the absences were glaring.
“Tonight will be the ultimate test in terms of multiple effort,” Malone said, noting Dallas’ penchant for 3-point shooting and the quality of isolation players on their roster.
Despite numerous defenders, including Brown, Green, Zeke Nnaji, Christian Braun and others, Doncic picked apart Denver’s defense. His 18-point, eight-rebound, six-assist first half bewildered the Nuggets and scrambled their strategy. Dallas took a 73-55 lead into halftime on the strength of 60% shooting, 38 points in the paint and 21 points from 3-point range.
Brown, with 13 points and quality defense on Doncic, was among the few bright spots.
The Nuggets took away nothing, and Christian Wood exposed a depleted bench unit, dropping in 18 points of his own in just 13 first-half minutes. When the Nuggets trotted out a lineup of Hyland, Braun, Cancar, Porter and Nnaji, it reinforced how quickly Denver’s depth had been exhausted.
