Irving's Return Overshadowed by Murray's Scoring Explosion as Nuggets Dominate Mavericks: 'We Just Watched Kai Play'

Kyrie Irving's comeback was spoiled by Jamal Murray's 45-point performance, leading the Denver Nuggets to a commanding 118-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Photo: Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks (22-18) concluded a challenging two-game series against the Denver Nuggets (24-15) on Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center, losing 118-99 despite Kyrie Irving’s return from a five-game absence. The Mavs will have an opportunity to bounce back on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, marking the conclusion of a back-to-back.

Jamal Murray ignited the Nuggets with 45 points and six assists, while Nikola Jokić delivered a triple-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Denver’s only other double-figure scorer was Michael Porter Jr., who scored 13 points, but more was unnecessary. The Nuggets were one missed free throw away from exceeding 50/40/90 shooting splits as a team, as they went 43 of 83 (51.8%) from the floor, 13 of 29 (44.8%) from three-point range, and 19 of 22 (86.4%) on free throws.

"They executed. Joker’s as good as they come—just being able to make the pass—and they knocked down shots,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said. “But we’ve got to be able to rebound the ball. They missed some that we could have come up with. Hopefully, on [Wednesday], we can be better."

Irving was held to 11 points on just 4 of 18 (22.2%) shooting overall, with his three shots from beyond the arc missing. He added four rebounds, three assists, and four steals, but the offense overall was contained to an inefficient scoring outing, shooting just 38 of 90 (42.2%) overall, 9 of 32 (28.1%) from deep, and 14 of 22 (63.6%) from the free throw line, while the team got outperformed on the boards again.

"Tonight really felt like I just hopped off the couch and decided to play an NBA game tonight,” Irving said. “The warm-up the last few days were good, but there's nothing like being in an NBA game and just getting rhythm. So I'm grateful my teammates had my back out there. Obviously, it wasn't the best performance for us."

The Mavericks’ leading scorer was Daniel Gafford, with only 13 points, with players who have often stepped up when tasked with filling a more prominent role, including P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall, and Quentin Grimes, held in check. With Luka Dončić expected to be sidelined until February before the All-Star break, the Mavericks must acclimate to having Irving back in the lineup as the top option while regaining collective assertiveness and success offensively.

“I think we just took a step back with Kai coming back, and we watched Kai play,” Kidd explained. “It happens when you get someone of his caliber to come back. You expect him to carry the load. It's something that we have to talk about as we get healthy, bringing guys back."

The flow of the game got out of hand for the Mavericks early, with the Nuggets leading by as many as 31 points early in the second half.

Murray Sets the Tone, Nuggets Never Look Back