Denver defended their home court despite the Mavericks best efforts. Jokic was just too much ending the night with 32 points, 16 rebs, and 4 assists. The Mavericks will fall to 2-11 away from the AAC and start this four-game road trip the wrong way.

Dallas offense flowing in 1st half

The Mavericks got off to a great start early on, hitting six threes in the first quarter. Harrison Barnes was hot from the perimeter as he really asserted himself all game long, finishing with 30 points on 10 of 16 shooting.

With Luka running the point, the ball movement looked great for the starting unit. With Denver keeping pace, it became an offensive showcase between these two teams going back and forth, finishing the half up 74-69.

Luka Doncic shines

Tonight, Luka Doncic finished with 23 points, 6 rebs, 12 assists, and only one turnover. He has a little over a month left to be the youngest to ever record a triple-double and with numbers like these, it seems likely.

The biggest thing we learned about his game tonight was his ability to truly run the point. One of the knocks of his young NBA career has been taking care of the ball, averaging 3.6 turnovers a night. The 12 to 1 assist to TO ratio is great, but understanding when to look for his shot and when to get others involved is years ahead of his class.

The Wonder Boy made 10 of 12 from the charity stripe as well. That’s more than anyone else in the game tonight and that’s coming from a rookie. Can I start writing his ROTY winning article now?

4th quarter decisions

Denver went into the 4th riding a 14-0 run that Dallas could never recover from. The Mavs were able to get it within three at 107-104 following a Jordan monster slam, but that would be as close as they would come. DeAndre fouled out midway in the fourth and without Kleber, Jokic went to work. Powell was no matchup inside and with Salah on the bench you have to wonder could he have made a difference? Yes, Jokic is an early MVP candidate but it might have slowed him down or drawn his 6th foul.

Luka ran the offense for most of the game but it seemed Dallas went away from him down the stretch. The ball movement seemed to slow down near the end of the fourth quarter, having the Mavs settle for contested, bad shots, which was clearly their demise in the hopes of coming back to win the game. 

The Mavs will get a chance to answer some of these questions on Thursday as they head into L.A. to take on the Clippers.