The Dallas Mavericks appeared to be on the ropes Friday night against the Denver Nuggets after they blew a 24-point lead in a matter of minutes to start the third quarter. It was Nikola Jokic’s return game after missing the last three, and the Mavericks, who were without superstar guard Luka Doncic, were on borrowed time once Denver took its first lead of the game with 5:34 left in the fourth room.
The momentum shifted in the Nuggets’ favor, and it looked like Denver would close out the game from there with Jokic preparing to put the finishing touches on what was another MVP-level performance. But the Mavericks without Doncic, specifically PJ Washington, had other plans.
After the Nuggets took a 108-106 lead just over halfway through the fourth quarter, Washington proceeded to score nine of the Mavericks’ final 15 points, capped by a steal that thwarted a potential game-tying 3-pointer. the last seconds.
The Mavericks avoided disaster, beating the Nuggets on the road, 123-120. Washington finished the night with 22 points, 13 rebounds and three steals, but it was their play down the stretch that won the game for Dallas. His pass and layup over the smaller Jamal Murray gave Dallas a four-point lead with just under 50 seconds left.
It’s the exact type of performance the Mavericks needed from Washington following the news that Doncic He would be out for at least a week due to a wrist injury. It was also much needed on a night where Kyrie Irving shot 37% from the field and Klay Thompson was virtually invisible in his zero-point performance on 0-of-8 shooting from the field in 23 minutes of action. Irving scored just two points and missed all seven of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter.
The win brings Dallas’ winning streak to four games, a positive trend for a team that was on a four-game losing streak just before that.
After the game, Washington mentioned that this recent winning streak was fueled by Dallas’ inexplicable loss to the Utah Jazz on November 14, who at that point had only won two games this season.
“I think after that loss, we got together and told each other we had to be better.” Washington said.
This win also gives the Mavericks a perfect 2-0 record in games without Doncic this season, after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder two games earlier in which Washington also excelled by leading the Mavericks in scoring. That’s a major improvement for a team that went 4-8 in games without its franchise centerpiece a season ago. Seeing key performances from role players like Washington (and Naji Marshall, who led the Mavericks in scoring Friday night with a career-high 26 points) shows that Dallas can rely on guys other than Doncic.
That wasn’t always the case early in Doncic’s career, as he was expected to shoulder a significant amount of Dallas’ offensive workload, especially in clutch situations. Doncic is still at the center of everything the Mavericks do offensively, but this game showed us that Dallas can have other guys who can be relied on when the going gets tough.
Dallas will face the Miami Heat on Sunday. Doncic will be out again, meaning Washington and others will have to keep up this performance from Friday if they want to add to this winning streak and move further up the West standings.
This win against the Nuggets also gives the Mavericks a glimmer of hope when it comes to the NBA Cup, firmly positioning Dallas in second place in Group C behind the Warriors. Golden State already clinched the group on Friday night, but the Mavericks could reach the knockout stage as a wild card depending on how they finish group play, which concludes for them on December 3 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
