The Dallas Mavericks managed to hang on and win a close 123-120 matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night despite guard Luka Doncic missing the game with a wrist injury.
Dallas was led in this game by forwards PJ Washington and Naji Marshall, who combined to put up 48 points while shooting 19-35 from the field and making clutch baskets in the final seconds.
Despite the Mavericks taking a lead of as much as 24 points at the beginning of the third quarter, the Nuggets fought back and tied the game with just under two minutes remaining.
The Mavericks were leading 117-115 with only 41 seconds remaining in the game, and the Nuggets were finding a consistent rhythm on both sides of the ball, but Marshall hit a difficult floater to give Dallas a strong lead with just 18 seconds remaining.
The two teams exchanged free throws for the remaining seconds until Dallas won.
Mavericks center Dereck Lively said after the game that the team expected to have some bumps in the road incorporating the notable offseason additions, but he is glad that they made sure to “not let those mistakes determine how we play.”
“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 added, according to Mavs.com.
“(We got to) learn each other, learn how to play together, and go out there and do an amazing job.
Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd said the team was glad to take such a large lead, but they knew that Denver was “going to try to make a run” to close out the game, noting that it would be a good test for the team.
“I thought this group stayed together,” said Kidd, per Mavs.com. “On the defensive end we made stops, and then on the offensive end we made some big plays.”
After starting the season with their worst start since the 2020-21 season, Mavericks forward PJ Washington said the team got together for a meeting and “kind of told ourselves we got to do better than that.”
“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,” Washington said, per Mavs.com.
Dallas has now put together multiple impressive wins against Western Conference contenders without Doncic. The Mavericks picked up a close win against the Oklahoma City Thunder last week without their All-Star guard.
The Mavericks have now won four straight games to bring their overall record on the season to 9-7, landing the team in the ninth overall seed in the Western Conference standings.
Although the Mavericks still have another 66 games left until the beginning of the postseason, Dallas has set themselves up to either make the playoffs outright or compete for a playoff spot in the play-in tournament.