Double-OT Thriller: Nuggets Fall To Mavericks 144-143

The Denver Nuggets took on the Dallas Mavericks in their second-to-last home game of the year, tonight at Pepsi Center. On opening day of the Colorado Rockies season, the Nuggets did not want to take a back seat to the (now) 4-0 Rox, and in a strange and amazing way, they did not disappoint. In the end, this would be one of the best games played in the entire NBA this season.

The first quarter was a harbinger of things to come, as the Nuggets played virtually no defense and gave up an astronomical 35 points in the quarter to a team that starts three players over 35 years-old. The Mavs started NBA veterans Dirk Nowitzki, Richard Jefferson, and ‘The Fat Little Hog’ Raymond Felton, but still led at the quarter break 35-27. The second quarter was not much better, with the Mavs extending their lead to as many as 23 points — they ended the first half with a 73-52 lead. The Nuggets couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean, shooting only 33-percent in the half, and they were outrun by the oldest team in the league.

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The third quarter would be a very different world for both teams, and the Nuggets would go on an epic run to get back into the game. They would end up outscoring the Mavericks by a 37-20 score in the quarter and come all the way back from the depths of despair to only trail by four points, 93-89 as the game went to the fourth quarter. The Nuggets were led in the amazing third quarter resurgence by team leader Ty Lawson, Danilo Gallinari, and the inspired play of J.J. Hickson, who would start to control the offensive and defensive glass for most of the second half. Gallo was playing as he has for the last four weeks and keep hitting big shot after big shot, giving the Nuggets a chance to stay in the game. This would be a night where it seemed that the Nuggets were not going to go away quietly and give the Mavericks all they wanted — and then some. They would go on another run in the fourth, and after a layup by Will Barton with 6:35 remaining, the Nuggets would come all the way back to trail by only one.

The rest of the fourth quarter would be classic NBA late-game basketball. The Nuggs would hang in, the Mavs would hold off, and the game would come down to who could make the biggest shot. Denver would make the comeback complete, tying the score at 105 with 5:30 left in the game. After a couple of traded hoops, the score would be 107-all going to timeout with 4:35 left. If the Nuggets could complete the comeback and win this game, it would be one of the 10 best comebacks in regular season franchise history. The rest of the fourth quarter would be some of the best NBA basketball you have seen in the last several years. A number of players would make big plays and big shots to turn this into the ESPN Sportscenter’s ‘Game of the Night’.

Gallinari would finish with a career-high 47 points, Lawson would finish with 18 assists, and several other Nugget players would contribute to the most exciting game of the 2015 season. The game would extend to two overtimes, and the back-and-forth that was occurring was epic! In the end, The Mavericks would prevail on a late jump shot from former Nugget Raymond Felton, to stun the Nuggets 144-143. As disappointing as this game may seem, it proves out that the Nuggets are going to play the last couple of games as hard as they can and give the impetus for the hoped for success of the 2015-2016 season.

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