Cooper Flagg finished with a game-high 33 points along with nine rebounds and nine assists and Anthony Davis added 31 points and nine rebounds to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 126-121 win over the visiting Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
Naji Marshall scored 15 points, Ryan Nembhard chipped in 11 points and seven assists and Brandon Williams, Caleb Martin and D’Angelo Russell all scored nine points off the bench.
Jamal Murray led the way for the Nuggets with 31 points, a season-high 14 assists along with seven rebounds. Nikola Jokic added 29 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds as Denver’s franchise-best road winning streak was snapped at 11.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 23 points on a season-high-tying seven 3-pointers. Fellow reserve Bruce Brown filled up the statsheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
After a Mavericks shot-clock violation with 7.8 seconds left in a one-point game, Peyton Watson had an open look from the corner off a Jokic pass that rimmed in and out at the buzzer, securing the win for the Mavericks.
Davis and Flagg carried the way in the fourth quarter with Davis scoring 10 and Flagg scoring five consecutive points for Dallas to provide a 128-123 lead with 2:37 remaining.
Murray’s 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining cut the deficit to 131-128 and Jokic’s hook shot in the lane made it 131-130 with 31.8 seconds left.
Cameron Johnson’s 3-pointer with 7:47 left in the third quarter capped off a 9-0 run for the Nuggets to tie the game at 76. The Mavericks, however, responded with a 15-0 run to jump out to a 91-76 lead.
Behind 10 points and eight assists from Jokic in the third, the Nuggets battled back to tie the game at 103 through three quarters.
The first half belonged to Flagg and the Mavericks, who stormed out to a 14-2 lead. Flagg scored 14 points in the first quarter on 6-for-6 shooting to help Dallas take a 41-27 lead.
Dallas led 50-29 in the second quarter following a layup from Caleb Martin and brought a 66-56 lead into the break.
