Naji Marshall scored a career-high 26 points, P.J. Washington had 22, and the visiting Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 123-120 on Friday night in the NBA Cup West Group C game.
Kyrie Irving finished with 19 points, Quentin Grimes added 14, Daniel Gafford 13 and Dereck Lively II had 11 and two blocks down the stretch for Dallas, which played without Luka Doncic.
Doncic missed the Mavericks’ win Sunday at Oklahoma City, returned for the win over New Orleans on Tuesday but will now be out for at least four games due to a right wrist injury.
Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in his return after missing three games for the birth of his second child. Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points each, Russell Westbrook added 16, Peyton Watson had 15 and Jamal Murray 14 for Denver.
The Nuggets trailed by 24 points early in the third, but Westbrook hit two 3-pointers and Murray fed DeAndre Jordan on an alley-oop to cut the Mavericks’ lead to 99-97 early in the fourth.
Four free throws gave Dallas a 106-100 lead when Jokic checked back in. Westbrook hit his third 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and Watson hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a 108-106 lead, their first of the game.
They were ahead 113-108, but Washington made a driving layup and converted a three-point play to tie the score with 2:08 left. Lively blocked shots by Jokic shot and Westbrook on consecutive possessions, Grimes hit two free throws and Washington a layup with 49.7 seconds left to give Dallas a 117-113 lead.
Murray hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left but Irving made two free throws for a 121-118 lead.
The Mavericks led 73-53 at intermission, and Washington and Gafford opened the second half with dunks to put Dallas ahead 77-53, but Denver rallied. Porter dunked and hit a 3-pointer and Watson made two layups during a 15-0 run that cut the deficit to 81-75.
The Mavericks took a 95-89 lead into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
