DALLAS — Nuggets coach Michael Malone was asked before Monday nightap game if he was concerned his team might play with low energy against a Dallas Mavericks team with the worst record (then 5-18) in the NBA, especially after an emotional Denver win over Orlando on Saturday.
Malone, noting that his team had won consecutive games only once all season, said the Nuggets had not earned the right to overlook any opponent.
“We’re in no place coming into any game thinking we can go up and win,” Malone said. “After the game if thatap an issue, then obviously I think it speaks to a much bigger problem.”
Three hours later, and the Nuggets’ embarrassing 112-92 loss to the Mavericks was over. Denver, which never led in the game, fell to 9-16 and ended its six-game road trip 2-4.
And looking forward to a homestand starting with Portland on Thursday night at the Pepsi Center didn’t qualify as an excuse, either.
“I’m not worried about Portland right now at all,” Malone said. “I’m worried about our team. We just got our (butt) kicked and Portland has nothing to do with that.”
The Nuggets struggled to score at the start of the game. Dallas center Salah Mejri blocked three of Denver’s first seven shots, punctuating the second with a Dikembe Mutombo-style finger wag. Malone called a timeout after Denver fell behind 10-2 and it calmed the team, for a period. The Nuggets’ bench scored eight points in the first quarter to keep Denver within striking distance.
But the wheels fell off at the end of the second quarter. Danilo Gallinari hit a 3-pointer with 3:16 left in the first half to draw the Nuggets within nine points. But Dallas went on a 15-2 run to close the half and Denver went into the locker room at halftime with a 65-43 deficit.
“Deflating,” guard Jamal Murray said of that run.
That 65-point outburst was the most points Dallas’ offense, which is dead last in the NBA in points per game, had scored in a single half this season.
The Nuggets allowed the Mavericks to shoot 58.7 percent from the floor in the game. Denver’s defensive problems were only confounded by the extra possessions Dallas got off of the Nuggets’ 16 turnovers, 11 of which came in the first half.
“Our one-on-one defense is pathetic right now,” Malone said. “We don’t take pride in it. We allow guys just to back us down and score way too easy.”
The Nuggets offense was not much better. Denver shot 42.2 percent from the floor and 28 percent from the 3-point line. Only center Nikola Jokic showed life on that end, but 23 of his game-high 27 points came in the second half when the outcome was without doubt.
If there was a bright spot for the Nuggets, it was that Wilson Chandler (hip) and Darrell Arthur (knee) both returned to the court. But even that was spoiled.
Arthur started at power forward and played 4:30 in the first quarter but did not return to the court after that as Malone looked for a rotation that worked against the Mavericks. Chandler came off the bench and played 23 minutes but only made one of his three shot attempts.
It was all enough to make veteran guard Jameer Nelson crumple up the score sheet and throw it across the locker room after the game, an assessment that guard Emmanuel Mudiay agreed with.
“You just throw this one out the window,” the second-year guard said. “We played horrible. … But we got to let this one go and try to move forward in a positive way.”
