DENVER – Despite playing with what he described as “the sniffles,” Luka Dončić collected 38 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists during Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
However, he didn’t get much help from his teammates, and the defending NBA champion Nuggets pounced on that opportunity and defeated the Mavs, 130-104, before a Ball Arena sellout of 19,659.
The loss left the short-handed Mavs with a 16-10 record going into Wednesday’s home game against the fast-improving Los Angeles Clippers.
Dončić missed the Monday morning shootaround, but after a six-point outing in the first quarter, he warmed up and tallied 22 points in the second quarter, which ended with Denver ahead, 68-59.
“(I had the) sniffles and everything, too,” Dončić said. “Stomach. It just happened to me, but I was able to play.
“That first quarter was pretty tough for me with the altitude. I just got to warm up, get my legs back, so the second quarter was way better.”
Unfortunately, Dante Exum (11 points) was the only other Mavs player to score at least 10 points. And that shortage of scoring put the Mavs in a bad 
spot.
“Give Denver credit,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We just missed (open shots) and we had some good looks there. But our defense, we need to be better defensively if we are not scoring.
“As a coach I need to be better. But the big thing is our defense. Our defense — if we are not scoring — needs to be better to give us a chance. We can’t just rely on Luka to have 40 to bail us out.”
In the meantime, the Nuggets didn’t even need a big night from their superstar – center Nikola Jokic – to pad their record to 18-10. Jokic didn’t play in the fourth quarter because the game was already out of hand, and he finished with just eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
The Nuggets carried a 98-80 lead into the fourth quarter and just kept pouring it on from there and showing precisely why they are one of the favorites to win the NBA title this season.
“They just played way better than us,” said Dončić, who was 13-of-24 from the floor, including 6-of-12 from
three-point range. “They were playing great. But everybody played well on their team.
“They were sharing the ball. There were a lot of open shots for them, so they played a really good game.”
Jamal Murray (22 points) and Aaron Gordon (21 points) did most of the heavy lifting for the Nuggets. And their bench, led by 18 points in 19 minutes from Reggie Jackson, outscored the Mavs’ reserves, 62-34.
Thanks to 16 points in transition in the first quarter, the Nuggets were able to move out to a 28-20 lead. They wound up outscoring the Mavs in fast break points, 32-11.
“They’re actually very good in transition,” Kidd said. “When you talk about Jokic and the home-run pass, they get out and they’ll throw the ball ahead and take advantage.
“Our half court was fine, but giving up 28 in the first (quarter) with 16 of them in transition (wasn’t good). That puts you in a bad situation, especially when they play in the half court and play through Jokic and you expect them to score. So, when you give up points like that in transition that just makes it a little bit tougher, and tonight it was tough for us.”
The Mavs played without K
yrie Irving (right heel contusion), Dereck Lively II (left ankle sprain), Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right small toe dislocation). Their absence puts tremendous pretty on the Mavs’ depth.
“It’s tough,” Dončić said. “Obviously we had five or six plyers out that play a lot of minutes for us, so it’s tough.”
Dončić has now scored 30-plus points in 11 consecutive games, which extends the franchise record he set last week.
“We know what Luka brings to the table,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “His ability to impact the game on every possible level. No one player in this league can guard Luka.”
On this night, neither the Nuggets’ bigs or smalls could slow down Dončić, who played 36 minutes.
“When you’re playing against a guy like Luka you have to have your base coverage, which is do what you do,” Malone said. “And then you have to have your adjustments ready.
“This team, probably more so than most, will identify the matchup they want, call him up at the pick-and-roll and let Luka try to do his thing. He is task with the responsibility of doing so much for that team and you want to make him have to work.”
The Nuggets shot 56.3 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three-point land, while the Mavs made 44.6 percent of their shots and 33.3 percent of their three-pointers.
“I think we had a lot of open shots,” Dončić said. “We just got to make those shots.”
X: @DwainPrice
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