Nuggets win 5th in a row; Beat Mavs 114-107
By Eric Meyer
Jan 14, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (left) shoots the ball against Dallas Mavericks forward Charlie Villanueva (right) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
After a flurry of trades for the Denver Nuggets over the last few days there were still games to be played. The Denver Nuggets came into their game against the Dallas Mavericks at Pepsi Center riding a 4-game winning streak. They were trying to tie their longest win streak of the season against the Mavs and came out on top by a 114-107 score. The Mavericks pulled a “Popovich” by resting their 3 best players as Tyson Chandler, Dirk Nowitzki, and newly acquired Rajon Rondo did not play in the game. The Nuggets did not have any sympathy for the undermanned Mavericks as they came out a little slow but turned up the gas in the latter part of the second quarter and starting the 3rd, running out to a 17 point lead and finishing the win with a gutty performance after a late Mavericks run in the 4th.
The Mavs made a small late run in the 3rd getting it down to 90-78 at the quarter break but the Nuggets would continue their good play in the fourth and win going away. Ty Lawson led the charge through 3 quarters putting up 20 pts and 9 assists going to the 4th and J.J. Hickson came off the bench to get 11 points and 4 rebounds through 3. Kenneth Faried had a good start to the game helping the Nuggets to their lead with energy, rebounding and some decent post play.
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The Nuggets came into the game a little short handed after the Nate Robinson trade as newly acquired point guard Jameer Nelson was not in Denver as yet and hadn’t passed the mandatory physical so he was not available for the game. The Nuggets played Erick Green at the backup point guard spot and he was serviceable in the game spelling Ty Lawson for short spurts throughout the night.
The fourth quarter did not start out the way the Nuggets would like as they played tentative basketball and allowed the Mavs to get within 4 points with 4:14 left in the game. Then Ty Lawson came to the rescue temporarily as he knocked down a pull up 2 and got the 3 point play to put the Nuggets back up by 7 with 3:53 left. In a game you thought the Nuggets were in complete control, this one would come down to late in the 4th quarter. After a Chandler Parson 2 with less than 3 minutes left, the Mavericks had gotten it down to a 3 point game. Kenneth Faried hit a couple of free throws with 1:50 left to get to 20 points and give the Nuggs a 106-101 lead with the clock ticking. He would then get a deuce on a pick and roll layup from Lawson with 1:19 left to give the Nuggets a 108-101 lead.
The last 1:19 would be typical NBA Basketball as the Mavericks would try to get 3’s and the Nuggets would defend the 3 point line with vigor and not allow great looks at the basket. “The Little Pest” J.J. Barea would do what he always does to the Nuggets getting to the basket to make things interesting but Lawson would hit some free throws with 34.8 seconds left to give the Nuggets some breathing room with a 110-104 lead. Wilson Chandler would hit 2 clutch free throws with 29.6 left to give the Nuggets some serious breathing room at 112-104. “The Manimal”, Kenneth Faried would get a huge block on “The Little Pest” with 7.8 seconds left and the rest was history. The Nuggets would extend their winning streak to a season high 5 games and move to 18-20 on the season and the Mavericks dropped to 27-13 on the season.
The Nuggets were led by their potential All Star point guard Ty Lawson with 29 points 12 assists and 5 rebounds. The Nuggets got some great performances as several players contributed to this win. Faried had a solid line with 22 points and 14 rebounds, Wilson Chandler chipped in 15 points and 10 rebounds and J.J. Hickson came off the bench to get 13 points and 8 rebounds. Rookie Jusef Nurkic had a tough night getting into foul trouble early and finished with only 7 points but he contributed 9 rebounds and 2 blocks for the Nuggets. The Mavericks were led by Richard Jefferson with 16 points, Chandler Parsons added 13 and former Nugget Raymond Felton had 10 points and 5 assists. J.J. Barea, as he is known to do, was the best player on the floor for the Mavs against the Nuggets as he scored 17 points and dropped 6 assists for the Mavs in the losing effort.
The Nuggets take their 5 game winning streak down to Dallas on the second of a home and home against the Mavericks on Friday. This was a nice win for the Nuggets even though they let a big lead slip away and played against a short Mavericks roster, but they held on and got to 2 games below .500 for the first time in almost a month.