Mavericks vs. Nuggets recap Friday night NBA Cup

The Dallas Mavericks faced Denver Nuggets Friday night achieved a nice victory in their third NBA Cup West group C game. Both the Mavs and Nuggets entered the night 1-1 in the Cup qualifiers, so Dallas especially needed this one to have a realistic chance to advance into the knockout round. While Nikola Jokic returned to the lineup for Denver after welcoming a newborn the night before, the Mavericks were at a disadvantage without superstar Luka Doncic, who is out with a wrist injury and is expected to miss at least the next two games as well.

After taking a 24-point lead early in the third quarter, things turned quickly and the Mavs found themselves down late in the fourth. Despite some questionable calls (and no calls), the Mavs never looked flustered and perhaps for the first time this season looked like the clear playoff team of last year. This was a gutsy win without their best player, a big conference win and a big win in terms of the NBA Cup. Let’s get to the characters!

Kyrie Irving: B+

19 points / 6 rebounds / 6 assists / 1 steal / 1 block

Kyrie had his first sub-par shooting night in quite some time. He started off hot, but the Nuggets played him much better in the second half, forcing misses and preventing the killer threes we’ve come to expect lately (he was 1-for-6 on the night from three). His rebounding total was very nice and he did a little bit of everything, but when he fell short of number one, the expectation is rightfully higher. He gets the “+” added to his grade for hitting two absolutely clutch free throws with 7 seconds left with the Mavs up by 1 point.

Quentin Grimes: A

14 points / 4 rebounds / 3 assists / 2 steals / 0 blocks

Grimes really shows that his latest flow is no fluke. Starting in the absence of Luka Doncic, he took advantage of his 29 minutes, shooting 5-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from three and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe (both of which came with 1:20 left in the game for to give the Mavs a two-point lead). He played lousy defense and put himself in the right spots to do the intangibles that don’t necessarily result in stats.

Klay Thompson: C

0 points / 4 rebounds / 4 assists / 0 steals / 1 block

This was a rough 0-for-8 night for Thompson (0-for-4 from three). I’ve often rated him highly on a “shoots well” basis, so it’s only fair to give a low grade for generally disastrous performance. His grade isn’t lower just because he had a positive impact on passing and rebounding and played good, non-statistical defense, but had he played even marginally better, the Mavs might never have given up the lead in this one.

Naji Marshall: A+

26 points / 1 rebound / 1 assist / 1 steal / 0 blocks

11-for-15 from the floor. 3-for-4 from three. Career high 26 points. An excellent drive and finish with 19 seconds left in the game to put the Mavs up four. A perfectly timed foul with four seconds left in the game. Yes, we all would have liked higher numbers in rebounds and even assists, but Naji gets the coveted A+ for being the best player in a Mavs uniform for all 48 minutes tonight.

PJ Washington: A++ (yes, it’s really just an A+)

22 points / 13 rebounds / 1 assist / 3 steals / 0 blocks

I promise, I’m not handing out A+ grades because of the euphoria of a big win. Like Naji Marshall, Washington earned every bit of this character in my eyes. He started out looking like an absolute world beater in the first few minutes of the game, going 3-for-4. He finished the game shooting 53.3% from the field, though he missed both of his three-point attempts. On the negative side of the ledger, he had four turnovers, and while that may be a character killer, he simply did far too many intangible positives in this one to not give him top marks. His defense in general was great all night, but his last two minutes of the game were epic. With 2:08 left, he had the ball down low but had the presence of mind to wait for a full-steam ahead defender to chase him down for an and-one, which he converted to tie the game. He then hit a layup with 50 seconds left, extending the lead to four. He followed that up by going 2-for-2 from the free throw line with three seconds left in the game to push the lead to three. In the end, he stole the entire court’s inbounds pass to seal the game. If Spinal Tap can “go to 11,” so can PJ Washington, at least for tonight.

Daniel Gafford: A

13 points / 6 rebounds / 1 Assist / 3 Steals / 1 block

Gafford had an overall level with himself, but did so while carrying much of the burden of defending one of the best players on earth. The victim of a bad call or two, Gafford stayed the course and impacted this game in a meaningful way, perhaps highlighting his effort with a three-steal tally. He also only managed two fouls while the other Maverick centers were hack-heavy in this one. He was 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-4 on free throws in a game where virtually every point counted. This was an overall nice game, highlighted by solid play against Nikola Jokic, despite what his gaudy numbers show on the surface (as much of his skill was against other Mavs’ defenders).

Derek Lively II: B

11 points / 6 rebounds / 0 assists / 1 steal / 2 blocks

Lively hit all four of her shots and was 3-for-4 on free throws. He had a really nice (and very timely) put-back after a Kyrie Irving miss, and his two blocks were huge. However, he registered five errors, a couple of which were bone-headed to say the least. He had a nice stat line and a good game overall, but his inability to stay on the floor affected things down the line (see: Maxi Kleber) and generally hurt the team throughout the game based on the ripple effect it had.

Maxi Glue: C-

0 points / 2 rebounds / 2 assists / 0 steals / 0 blocks

Kleber got some extra burn in this game, mainly because Dereck Lively couldn’t stop fouling. Despite the scenario not being an ideal setup for success, Kleber really had a tough time in this one. He collected five fouls of his own when the third quarter buzzer sounded. To put that into further perspective, he only played 9:12 to that point. Maxi gave an effort and didn’t hang his head, but other than that, this was a very forgettable night for him.

Jaden Hardy: C

8 points / 0 rebounds / 2 assists / 0 steals / 0 blocks

Hardy’s eight points were a solid contribution, but they came on an ineffective 3-for-9 from the floor. He also carried a plus/minus of -16 for leading the team the way you don’t want to lead the team.

Spencer Dinwiddie: B+

10 points / 2 rebounds / 4 assists / 0 steals / 0 blocks

Dinwiddie had a quiet night. On one hand, you could argue that this is about as ideal a stat line as you can expect, but I’d argue that the expectation for Dinwiddie is realistically higher. I think he has more to give and will do so in his time, especially in a match where Luka is back in Dallas watching on TV. Still, I bump him a little higher here because he did nothing wrong and contributed a team-leading three 3-pointers (tied with Marshall) on 60% shooting.

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