Naji Marshall scored a career-high 26 points, P.J. Washington added 22, and the Dallas Mavericks won 123-120 against the Denver Nuggets on Friday in an NBA Cup West Group C game.
Kyrie Irving finished with 19 points, Quentin Grimes had 14, Daniel Gafford scored 13, and Dereck Lively II contributed 11 points along with two crucial blocks for Dallas, which played without Luka Doncic.
Doncic missed Sunday’s win over Oklahoma City, returned for the win against 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. both scored 17 points, Russell Westbrook added 16, Peyton Watson finished with 15, and Jamal Murray had 14 for Denver.
The Nuggets were down by 24 early in the third quarter but managed to cut the Mavericks’ lead to 99-97 early in the fourth with two 3-pointers from Westbrook and an alley-oop assist from Murray to DeAndre Jordan.
Dallas extended its lead to 106-100 after a couple of free throws, and Jokic returned to the game. Westbrook hit his third 3-pointer of the quarter, and Watson made a corner 3-pointer, giving the Nuggets a 108-106 lead, their first lead of the game.
Denver led 113-108, but Washington made a driving layup and converted a three-point play to tie the game at 113 with 2:08 remaining. Lively blocked Jokic and Westbrook on back-to-back possessions. Then Grimes hit two free throws, and Washington made a layup with 49.7 seconds left to give Dallas a 117-113 lead.
Murray made a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, but Irving sealed the win for Dallas with two free throws, giving them a 121-118 lead.
Dallas led 73-53 at halftime. Washington and Gafford opened the second half with dunks to extend the lead to 77-53, but Denver responded with a 15-0 run to narrow the gap to 81-75.
The Mavericks held a 95-89 lead going into the fourth quarter.
