The Mavericks needed a home awakening, but the one they — more specifically Tim Hardaway — received Monday night was of the rude variety.
Hardaway’s groin was on the receiving end of an uppercut from Denver’s Jamal Murray, who was ejected. The incident sparked a third-quarter Mavericks rally, but it was short-lived as Denver dominated the fourth quarter and won, 117-113 at American Airlines Center.
The night was billed as a battle of early-season Most Valuable Player candidates Luka Doncic of the Mavericks and Nikola Jokic of Denver.
Doncic certainly fulfilled his part, finishing with 35 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds, for his sixth triple-double of the season and 31st of his career.
Jokic finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but got more offensive help than did Doncic, with Michael Porter Jr. and JaMychal Green scoring 30 and 17 points, respectively, off the bench as Denver (10-7) shot 50.6%.
Hardaway scored 19 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 16 for the Mavericks (8-9), who fell to 2-4 at home and 0-2 to start a stretch in which they will play 13 of 17 games at AAC.
Trailing 80-73 after a Hardaway layup with five minutes left in the third quarter, the Mavericks received an unexpected, an unwelcome, jolt of incentive after Murray fell to the floor on the Nuggets’ ensuing possession.
As Murray got up, he grabbed Hardaway’s right leg with his left arm, then delivered an upward shot to Hardaway’s groin area.
Hardaway doubled over, but remained remarkably calm while referees reviewed replays of the incident and subsequently tossed Murray from the game with a flagrant 2 foul.
The Mavericks immediately went on a 9-0 run, with Hardaway scoring seven of the points, then increased the run to 15-3. Behind 16 third-quarter points from Hardaway, the Mavericks took a 94-92 lead into the final quarter, which seemingly was good news.
Entering Monday, Dallas was 7-0 in games that it led through three quarters.
The Nuggets, though, took as much as a 102-97 led before the Mavericks rallied and tied the game at 104 on a James Johnson layup with 4:48 left.
The Mavericks simply could not make enough stops down the stretch while also going cold offensively.
As of Jan. 14, 10 games into the season, the Mavericks were 6-4, had a season-high four-game winning streak and had risen to No. 2 in the NBA in defensive rating (104.6).
But entering Monday, in the six games since they achieved that lofty ranking, the Mavericks’ defensive efficiency was 116.3, 26th in the NBA during that span, dropping their season ranking like a rock, to 15th in the league.
Two nights after allowing 70 first-half points in a 25-point home loss to Houston, the Mavericks allowed 70 more to the Nuggets, who shot 54.5% for the half.
The first quarter featured another mammoth start by Doncic. Two games after he accounted for 31 of Dallas’ 37 points in a victory at San Antonio, Doncic on Monday accounted for 29 of Dallas’ 31 first-period points.
He scored 14 points and his seven assists created 15 more points.
By halftime, Doncic had had a hand in 41 of Dallas’ 58 points.
