Field Level Media
Oct 29, 2019
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber scored 14 points apiece off the bench, Kristaps Porzingis had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and the visiting Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 109-106 on Tuesday night.
Luka Doncic was held to 12 points but nine Mavericks players scored in double figures in handing the Nuggets their first loss of the season.
Paul Millsap had 23 points and eight rebounds, Will Barton had 19 points and 11 boards, and Nikola Jokic had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Denver.
Jamal Murray and Gary Harris had 16 points each for the Nuggets, who lost the lead two minutes into the fourth quarter and never recovered.
Hardaway opened the fourth with his third 3-pointer to cut the lead to two, and after Mason Plumlee stretched it back to four, Jalen Brunson's layup closed the Mavs to within two. Delon Wright then converted a three-point play and a layup and, when Dorian Finney-Smith put home a driving dunk, Dallas was up 95-92 with less than nine minutes to play.
Brunson hit a layup and a free throw, Porzingis' bank shot put him in double figures and Hardaway's fourth 3-pointer gave Dallas a 103-94 lead with seven minutes to play.
Murray answered with a step-back 18-footer and Millsap's offensive rebound and 3-pointer -- his fourth of the night -- pulled the Nuggets within 103-99 with 5:11 left.
After Doncic split a pair of free throws Millsap's follow slam cut Dallas' lead to 104-101. After each team had a couple of empty possessions, Kleber, who had seven rebounds, converted a three-point play to push the lead to six. Millsap hit a layup and Harris a corner 3-pointer to make it 107-106 with 1:40 left.
Kleber was called for goaltending on Murray's layup with 1:05 left but the Mavericks challenged and it was reversed.
Doncic hit a driving layup to make it 109-106 with 47.1 seconds left and Jokic lost the ball out of bounds with 29.2 seconds left. Doncic had a chance to seal it but missed two free throws with 26 seconds left.
The Nuggets got the ball and called a timeout to set up a play. Murray's 3-point attempt with 3.8 seconds left missed everything and the Mavericks ran out the clock.
--Field Level Media