The Nuggets will try to pick up another home win in the second leg of their back-to-back with a jaunt against the Mavericks Tuesday night, fresh off their game on the road against the Sacramento Kings.
The Mavericks are coming off a loss to the Trail Blazers on Sunday, but the defeat wasn't sure to a lack of trying from their superstar sophomore Doncic, who picked up a triple-double and helped lead the team to 119 points. The Mavericks have won two games this season so far, picking up victorious over the Pelicans and the Wizards.
The Basics
Who: Dallas Mavericks vs Denver Nuggets
When: 7:00 PM MT
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
How to watch: Not without leaving the house.
Lineups
| POS | DAL | DEN | EDGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG | Jalen Brunson | Jamal Murray | Nuggets |
| SG | Delon Wright | Gary Harris | Nuggets |
| SF | Luka Doncic | Will Barton | Mavericks |
| PF | Kristaps Porzingis | Paul Millsap | Mavericks |
| C | Maxi Kleber | Nikola Jokic | Nuggets |
| BENCH | Justin Jackson, Seth Curry, Dorian Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr., Boban Marjanovic | Monte Morris, Malik Beasley, Torrey Craig, Jerami Grant, Michael Porter Jr, Mason Plumlee, Jarred Vanderbilt | Nuggets |
Injuries: Dwight Powell (out)
Three Things to Watch For
Rebounding. Despite being one of the tallest players on the court, Porzingis isn't a good rebounder on offense or defense. It's been an area that Jokić has exploited in the past against him, and should be a way to help get an edge on him in this match-up too. The Mavericks play small, so giving up any offensive rebound is a killer. They need to make sure that if the Mavericks miss a shot, they don't get a chance to score again. Getting the rebound can help the Nuggets get into transition too, creating scoring opportunities for the reserves. Hopefully they don't have to deal with Boban tonight.
Simply Safe. The Mavericks have some guards that are going to make life tough for Gary Harris and Jamal Murray. The Nuggets guards need to take care of the basketball and prevent Delon Wright and Jalen Brunson from picking their pockets. Doncic isn't a good defender, so if the Nuggets can get the ball into the hands of a playmaker against him, that should be money each time down the court.
Stay at home. Make Doncic be the player that had to score 30 plus to win the game. The Nuggets can't cheat off too much from guys like Maxi Kleber or Tim Hardaway and let those guys get hot. Doncic is an elite creator, and will have a couple plays where he embarrasses a defender or two. They just need to stay at home, trust their teammates, get a couple stops, and outlast the Mavericks.
Prediction
Nuggets 112 – Mavericks 108. It’ll be close, but hopefully no one fouls up three with 1.5 seconds left.
