Mavericks at Nuggets
Yogi Ferrell wrote quite a story in his first four games with the Dallas Mavericks and the rookie point guard will try to continue his strong play when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Ferrell, who started the season with Brooklyn, signed a 10-day contract on Jan. 28 and is averaging 17.8 points since after scoring 32 in the 108-104 victory over Portland on Friday for Dallas’ fourth straight win.
“He’s an opportunistic guy and it’s pretty clear he’s out to prove a point,” Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after Ferrell drained 9-of-11 from 3-point range Friday. Ferrell, who is expected to be signed to a multi-year deal soon, said he was in a zone and fellow guard Wesley Matthews told reporters, “He plays extremely confident, he plays poised and he plays like he loves the game. He’s got some toughness to him.” Dallas has won six of seven overall to move within two games of eighth-place in the Western Conference – a spot held down by Denver, which is 1-3 in its last four games and could be without leading scorer Danilo Gallinari (groin) for the third straight game. The Nuggets allowed an average of 119.3 points during the last four contests.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (20-30): Ferrell also averages five assists and was signed when backup point guard Pierre Jackson was dropped before moving right into the starting role with Deron Williams (toe), who could return Monday, out the last five games. Harrison Barnes leads the team in scoring (20.2) after cooling off a bit the last two games (14.0), but Matthews stepped up to record 27 in the victory over Portland. Veteran forward Dirk Nowitzki is averaging just 8.3 points over the last three contests while guard Seth Curry continues his strong contribution, scoring 20.1 per game over the past four.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (22-28): Denver misses Gallinari’s 17.2 points and center Nikola Jokic (15.5 points, team-high 8.5 rebounds), who has been bothered by a hip injury, was limited to 15 minutes in the 121-97 loss to San Antonio on Saturday. Rookie Jamal Murray led the way off the bench with 20 points Saturday and averaged 15.8 over the last five contests. Inside force Kenneth Faried (10.1 points, 8.1 rebounds) strung together four consecutive double-doubles before being held to four points and four rebounds against the Spurs, who shot 57 percent from the field.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nowitzki made his 10,506th career field goal Friday, moving past Kevin Garnett for 11th on the NBA’s all-time list and within seven of John Havlicek for 10th.
2. Denver PG Emmanuel Mudiay, the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft, is 3-for-15 from the field the last two contests.
3. The Mavericks won six of the last eight meetings after the teams split a pair of games in December.