DENVER – With the thought of remaining in the running to win $500,000 per player in the 2024 Cup Nights tournament on the line, the
Dallas Mavericks were able to stay afloat Friday night and capture a wild, wild 123-120 game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
The Mavs blew a 24-point second-half lead, then battled back and hung on for dear life in holding off the pesky Nuggets. In the process, the Mavs increased their record to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in the 2024 Cup Nights games, while Denver dropped to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the 2024 Cup Nights games.
This was a contests filled with several peaks and valleys for both teams. But after building – and subsequently blowing – that 24-point lead, the Mavs showed some intestinal fortitude by bouncing back and getting out of town with a much-deserved victory.
“We knew that they were going to try to make a run at us,” coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought this group stayed together.
“On the defensive end we made stops, and then on the offensive end we made some big plays.”
One of the biggest plays of the game came from Naji Marshall, who banked in an off-balanced 13-foot floater with 18.8 seconds left that gave the Mavs a 119-115 lead. That play was very pivotal since the 24-seocnd shot clock was about to expire before Marshall released the ball.
“Marshall is playing extremely well for us,” Kidd said. “With the game on the line he makes a floater with one second on the (24-second) shot clock and that helped 
us win the game.”
It was the final two points of a career-high 26 points scored by Marshall, who was 11-of-15 from the field in 26 minutes off the bench. But heroes were plentiful for the Mavs, who won for the fourth straight time following a brutal 115-113 road loss to the Utah Jazz when P. J. Washington said the Mavs had a team meeting – including the players and coaches – after that unfortunate setback.
“After that loss (to the Jazz) we had a meeting and we kind of told ourselves we got to do better than that,” Washington said. “Obviously, that little (four-game losing) skid we had. . .we’re just trying to bounce back and just keep being positive about everything and just keep attacking each day and just trying to come out and do exactly what the coaches asks us to do and put ourselves in position to win.”
After the key basket by Marshall, a three-pointer from Denver’s Jamal Murray sliced the Mavs’ lead to 119-118 with 10 seconds left. Kyrie Irving nailed a couple of free throws to give Dallas a 121-118 lead with seven seconds left before Murray countered with a pair of free throws to get the Nuggets back within one point of the Mavs at 121-120 with 4.2 seconds remaining.
Washington’s two charity tosses increased Dallas’ lead to 123-120 with just 3.8 seconds to go. The game then ended after Washington stole a long inbounds pass
from Peyton Watson, and the Mavs could finally exhale after losing a similar high-level game in Denver on Nov. 10 by a 122-120 score.
“At the end of the day we didn’t want this to go like it went the last time,” said Washington, who finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. “We just locked in and tried to win every possession, and we knew every possession mattered at the end of the game.
“We just tried to be smart and limit them and come out with the W.”
Overall, the Mavs had seven players score at least 10 points for the third game in a row. Besides Marshall and Washington, Kyrie Irving had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Quentin Grimes collected 14 points and two steals.
In addition for the Mavs, Daniel Gafford had 13 points and six rebounds, Dereck Lively II finished with 11 points, six boards and two blocks, and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 10 points.
The Nuggets were led by Nikola Jokic (33 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists), Michael Porter Jr. (17 points), Christian Braun (17 points), and Russell Westbrook (16 points). Also for Denver, Watson finished with 15 points, and Murray had 14 points and 11 assists.
Lively picked up two major blocks in the waning seconds which helped keep the Nuggets at bay.
“We expected them to go on a run, we expected them to make shots, so it’s just being able to make sure that we just stay consistent throughout the whole game,” Lively said. “No matter if that’s on defense, offense – just sticking to our principles.
“No matter if that’s running the ball, communicating on defense, rotating or just helping the next man.”
And on a night when the Mavs played without point guard Luka Doncic — he has a strained right wrist – they were able to keep their heads above water and paddle their way to the finish line.
The Mavs led 33-31 after a first quarter when they got 10 points from Grimes. And they mounted a 73-53 lead at the half when they outscored Denver, 40-22, in the second quarter behind 13 points from Irving.
But that disastrous third quarter, when the Nuggets outscored the Mavs, 36-22, made things a bit uncomfortable for Dallas, who were clinging to a 95-89 lead entering the fourth quarter. Still, the Mavs were able to run Denver’s record to 0-155 when the Nuggets trail by at least 20 points at halftime of a game.
“We continued to fight at the end of the day,” Washington said. “Obviously, the third quarter didn’t go how we wanted it to, but I felt like we bounced back and kept our poise and just kept attacking.”
The Mavs shot 50.5 percent from the field, converted 10 of 27 three-pointers and won the rebounding battle, 44-42. While everything wasn’t as rosy in the second half like it was in the first half for the Mavs, the bottom line is they got what they came here to get.
“They’re on a new team with new players, we got to be able to figure out each other’s tendencies, figure out what each other likes to do, which way we like to go, which spots we like to get to, and just learning,” Lively said of his new teammates. “(We got to) learn each other, learn how to play together, and go out there and do an amazing job.
“We’re going to have mistakes, but not let those mistakes determine how we play.”
Dunks by Washington and Gafford at the outset of the third quarter helped the Mavs’ lead mushroom to 77-53. But from there, the temperature and complexion of the game completely changed as the Mavs suddenly couldn’t do much of anything right and the Nuggets suddenly couldn’t do much of anything wrong.
Denver kept nipping away and nipping away at the Mavs’ massive lead until they took their first lead of the game at 108-106 on a three-pointer by Watson with 5:34 left in the game. The Nuggets eventually led by as much as five points (113-108) with 3:04 left.
But the Mavs stayed closed and kept making pivotal plays down the stretch. Most notably, Washington tallied nine of his points in the waning moments, and Lively picked up two crucial blocks during the critical minutes of the game.
A pair of free throws from Grimes put the Mavs ahead for good at 115-113 with 1:20 left. Following a missed shot by Jokic, Washington drove and scored as the Mavs inched ahead, 117-113, with 49.7 seconds left.
“Lively was great with the blocks,” Kidd said. “He was big on the defensive end, and I thought P. J. was big on the defensive end. And on the offensive end, with 
Marshall and P. J., those two played at a high level for us.
“It’s the same game that we were here 10 days ago when we were down five. We just didn’t finish the game 10 days ago. A lot of the small things we cleaned up from the last time we were here.”
And because the Mavs cleaned up those “small things,” they’re still in the race to capture the 2024 Cup Nights.
“I think the tournament is exciting,” said Kidd, whose team will play in Miami on Sunday. “The players are talking about it, the fans are talking about it, and every point means something. Everyone is trying to get to (Las) Vegas (for the 2024 Cup Nights semifinals).”
When asked what’s the motivation to play in the 2024 Cup Nights games, Grimes said: “To get that $500K. I’m keeping it simple. We all want the $500K.
“It counts with the regular season record as well. So, just coming in and getting to play with a little more emphasis, trying to get the $500K. So, that’s really the only thing, for sure.”
X: @DwainPrice
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