DALLAS — For so many years growing up, Emmanuel Mudiay showed up to the American Airlines Center as a fan. Mainly it was of Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki. But eventually it was of the team as well.
“I was a fan when they won that championship though,” Mudiay said. “That whole year I was actually following them, and I started liking them that year. … They grew on me over the years.”
Saturday, it was his job to beat them.
But just like many of those dominant Mavericks team he watched, this one took care of business on its home court. They handed the Nuggets a sixth consecutive loss, 92-81, while ending a three-game losing streak of their own.
The Nuggets fell apart in the second half, specifically, the third quarter.
For a long while, it was eerily reminiscent of the game the Nuggets played at the New York Knicks last season, the game they almost didn’t make a single basket in a quarter before Ty Lawson’s last-second shot saved them.
Saturday, the shooting broke down. Fell off a cliff, actually. The Nuggets started the third by missing their first 15 shots, committed six turnovers in that span, and didn’t stop the bleeding until a Kenneth Faried layup with 3:05 left.
And Rick Carlisle called a timeout to stop the momentum.
When it was all said and done, the Nuggets made just 2-of-19 shots, committed nine turnovers and were outscored 25-5 in the frame.
Game over.
Not even some hot shooting by Will Barton in the fourth quarter could help the Nuggets rally. Dallas had built a 20 point lead before Denver’s shooting boomeranged back to normal. And when it did it was Barton leading the charge. Barton quickly hit three 3-pointers and the Nuggets did cut that lead down to 11, but the Mavericks were never truly threatened the rest of the way.
It started the Nuggets’ five-game road trip, which continues Monday in Milwaukee, on a sour note.
Danilo Gallinari started hot, but did a slow fade throughout. The Nuggets’ leading scorer had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half. He did not score in the third, missing all six of his attempts, missed all seven of his second-half shots in total, and finished with 12 for the game.
Mudiay had nine points on 4-of-9 shooting in the first half, with three rebounds and three assists. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting with five rebounds and four assists.
Darrell Arthur was the most locked-in Nugget in the first half, nailing jumper after jumper on his way to 12 points at halftime. He scored just four in the second half.
You get the point.
The Mavericks were led by Deron Williams 22 points. He hit four 3-pointers in the process. Center Zaza Pachulia was also too much for the Nuggets to handle, as he recorded a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. He added three steals.
