Takeaways from Denver’s road loss in Dallas
By Mathew Huff
The Denver Nuggets put up a lack luster performance against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Denver Nuggets kicked off their big road trip in Dallas. They were battling a last place in the West Mavericks team who had been less than stellar all year.
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On paper, the Nuggets should have ran this squad out of the building. Sadly, this was not the case at all. From the opening tip, the Mavericks controlled the tempo of the game.
They punched the Nuggets with a well balanced scoring attack while Denver looked frustratingly lost on defense all night. Dallas had six different players finish in double figures on the night. Meanwhile, the Nuggets were searching for some type of identity without Nikola Jokic.
The only highlight for Denver was the scoring out put their back court produced. Gary Harris finished with 21 points while Jamal Murray finished with 22 points. The high point man for Denver was Will Barton with 23 points and nice eight rebounds and six assists. However, the rest of the bench was unable to follow suit.
The Nuggets only shot 41.8% from the field as a team while Dallas took advantage of Denver’s porous defense. They shot a much too high 57% from the field.
Without Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap, Denver looks like lost little children in the grocery store looking desperately for their mother. The Nuggets are now 3-8 on the road this season. It is crazy how night and day this team is when they travel away from the Pepsi Center. This must be corrected going forward, but the team seems disinterested in competing away from home.
Next: Recap: Nuggets at Mavericks
Despite an impressive home record, they must recognize not every game can be played at home. With the start of the big road trip, things are not looking up for the depleted Nuggets.