3 mountains the Mavericks must climb to beat the Denver Nuggets

The Dallas Mavericks (38-29) will face the West Division-leading Denver Nuggets (47-20) on Sunday in another nationally televised major stick game at American Airlines Center. . And once again, the Mavericks feel vaguely unprepared for the unique challenge posed by the defending champions.

Is it too much to ask for a little luck on St. Patrick's Day?

Luka Doncic tweaked his left hamstring in the fourth quarter of the Mavs' 109-99 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, so as of this writing, Luka Doncic has been playing with Nikola Jokic & Co. Whether he will be able to participate in the showdown is up in the air. He missed Friday's 126-119 loss to Oklahoma City, but practiced with the team on Saturday, according to DallasBasketball.com. Doncic is officially listed as questionable for Sunday's game.

The Nuggets have put the Mavericks in that position in their last two meetings this season, defeating Dallas by a combined 35 points. In their last matchup, Denver's starters were only required to play about 25 minutes each on Dec. 18 against the Mavs, when Kyrie Irving was out with a heel injury. Doncic scored 38 points on 13-of-24 shooting, including six 3-pointers in the loss, but he didn't have a running mate that night against one of the NBA's best teams. .

Here are the three biggest hurdles the Mavs will face when the Nuggets come to Dallas.

firepower

The fact that Doncic was able to practice Saturday suggests he could be available for the game against Denver, but if he's not available, it might be best to ignore the horror of what's to come. Irving did a great job of filling in for him, scoring 36 points on 12-of-18 shooting and dishing out 12 assists in Friday's game against OKC, but no matter how hot his shots and the inspired defensive play of his role players were, They won't be able to fill the huge hole left by Doncic's absence. against the mighty Nags.

Dante Exum is also listed as questionable for the Mavericks with a sprained right plantar fascia, and Josh Green is out with a sprained ankle in Oklahoma City. The Nuggets are perfectly healthy for Sunday's game, as the basketball gods are inherently cruel. Denver won 11 of 12 games after the All-Star break, proving their ability to beat teams no matter what type of game was in front of them.

Jokic is averaging 26.0 points per game and nearly a triple-double since the hiatus, with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. by his side as potential game-breakers at the Nuggets' No. 2 and No. 3 options. There is. And then there's the ever-present backdoor lob action from Jokic to Aaron Gordon, making him one of Denver's favorite options when teams send a second defender the way of their big men.

There's a lot to deal with whether Doncic can play and whether he can play against his own offensive brilliance. The Mavs have been playing good defense in spurts lately, but the Nuggets have so many counters and have a Plan B no matter what they throw at them on defense that they simply hit the floor and play harder. That alone isn't the actual solution you think it is.

How do you solve a problem like Nicola's?

How do you solve a problem like Nicola's?

How do we catch and hold clouds in place?

How can I find a way to stop Nikola?

He will make your post defender look like a clown!

Apologies for the show's song references, but the Mavericks' matchup options against Jokic himself aren't particularly exciting. Dallas has gotten good play down low on both ends of the court from Derek Lively II and Daniel Gafford in recent games, but neither is a good matchup against the Joker. In reality, very few people do.

In a recent similar matchup, Gafford was relegated to the Jason Kidd Phantom Zone, much to the chagrin of many Mavs fans, while Maxi Kleber received increased playing time for defensive purposes. i guess. But some of Kleber's own recent play has looked a little on the floaty side, so again, there aren't many elegant solutions to problems like Joker on the Mavericks' roster.

Photo by Bart Young/NBAE, Getty Images

Of note, however, is that in December's 130-104 blowout, Jokic had one of his strangest games, adopting a pass-first mentality to the point of almost refusing to take shots (eight points, nine rebounds, 7 assists). , but continues to impact the game with his superior rebounding, intelligence, and intangibles.

3 point shot

The Mavs' 3-point shooting has the potential to be a great game-tyer, but in the team's four-game winning streak prior to the loss to OKC, the team shot just 29 percent from 3-point range and is looking for other options. Was. end. They snapped out of their shooting funk, shooting 12 of 29 (41.4%) against the Thunder, but ultimately fell just one shot short of winning Luka Doncic.

Similarly, Tim Hardaway Jr.'s comeback against Oklahoma City, where he scored 23 points, grabbed nine boards, and made 5 of 9 attempts from deep, should be enough of a conversation heading into the game against Denver. It became a material. in loss. If that's an anomaly and Hardaway returns to his normal form on Sunday, this will be an especially difficult game for the Mavs. If he can continue to warm up against the Nuggets — if he can become a reliable part of the offensive rotation (playing any defense is too demanding) — then the Mavs will He'll be able to hit a few three-balls home. You have a much better chance of staying in this match. Denver has so many options on the offensive line that Dallas needs to be able to rely on Hardaway as an option in the opposing armory.

Once the game started, the Mavs were shooting 37.1 percent from 3-point range this year compared to Denver's 36.5 percent. However, the Mavericks are second in the NBA in 3-point percentage per 100 possessions (44.2%), while the Nuggets are last at 35%, meaning Denver will likely shoot the ball better than Dallas. This shows how little dependence there is on Outside.

How to watch

Denver vs. Dallas is scheduled to tip off Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CDT. This work will be broadcast on ABC.