Mavericks roll past visiting Nuggets
DALLAS -- It's been a long time since the Dallas Mavericks torched a team with the kind of firepower they put on display Monday night in a 112-92 demolition of the defenseless Denver Nuggets at American Airlines Center.
Dallas was off and running early and buried the Nuggets in an avalanche of fast breaks and buckets from just about everywhere to build a double-digit lead that expanded to 22 points thanks to a 15-2 run to close out an electric first half.
The Mavs (6-18) scored a season-best 65 points in the opening 30 minutes as a result of 66.7 percent shooting in the second quarter and 65.1 percent shooting in the first half that included going 24-of-32 inside the arc for a cool 75 percent. Forty of Dallas' first-half points came inside the paint and 20 came off 11 Denver turnovers.
Guard Wesley Matthews continued his recent torrid pace, following up consecutive season highs of 26 points with 25 that included making his first five shots from beyond the arc before finishing 5 of 7 and 10 of 14 overall.
Forward Harrison Barnes added 18 points, point guard Deron Williams had 17 points and eight assists and forward Dorian Finney-Smith contributed another solid effort with a season-high 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting -- and 3 of 5 on 3s -- nine rebounds and three assists. Center Salah Mejri, starting in place of injured starter Andrew Bogut, had seven points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Dallas rebounded from a blowout loss Saturday at Houston to get a much-needed home win considering it will play seven of its next 10 games on the road. The Mavs built a 28-point lead in the third quarter that goes down as their largest lead of the season to get their fifth win by double digits.
The Nuggets (9-16), on the last stop of a six-game road trip, failed to put together the season's first back-to-back road victories after coming off Saturday's win at Orlando. They haven't won two straight of any kind since Nov. 22. The lack of energy and focus from the start was particularly disturbing for a team that two nights earlier posted its first victory of the season when trailing heading into the fourth quarter.
There simply was little cohesiveness on either side of the floor. Denver shot 42.2 percent overall and was impotent outside of Nikola Jokic, who had a team-high 25 points on 10 of 12 shooting. Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay had 14 points and Danilo Gallinari had just 12 on 3 of 10 shooting.
NOTES: The Mavericks hope F Dirk Nowitzki (Achilles) and G J.J. Barea (calf) will ramp up activities this week, although both remain listed as out indefinitely. Nowitzki has played in just five games this season and hasn't appeared since Nov. 23, while Barea missed his 14th consecutive game Monday. ... C Andrew Bogut (knee) also remained out of the Dallas lineup. ... The Mavericks held their annual Seats for Soldiers night. Dallas season-ticket holders gave up their front-row seats to wounded soldiers. ... Nuggets F Wilson Chandler (hip) returned to the lineup after missing one game. Over his previous 14 games, Chandler averaged 19.8 points and 8.0 rebounds. ... Denver F Darrell Arthur (knee) got hurt Thursday, played Saturday and was in the lineup against Dallas despite being listed as questionable.