DENVER — The much-needed vacation comes in February in the NBA.
The all-star break for most players provides a brief respite from the grind of an 82-game season — an opportunity to recharge and prepare for whatever comes next.
What’s next for the Nuggets, unlike in recent years, is a playoff chase. It makes the six-game stretch heading into the all-star break, which began with Monday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, pivotal for a Denver.
“This is an interesting time of the year,” coach Michael Malone said before the game, the Nuggets’ fourth in five nights. “Everyone’s trying to steal games, but everyone is feeling it. You just have to go out there and find the energy.”
The Nuggets had enough energy to produce one of their finest defensive performances of the season in a 110-87 rout of the Mavericks at the Pepsi Center, an impressive start to a stretch that will include games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.
Denver, which improved to 23-28 while maintaining a grasp on the eighth slot in the Western Conference playoff race, suffocated Dallas during a game-changing second quarter. The Mavericks shot only 4-of-19 (21 percent) in the period as the Nuggets turned a 29-24 lead after the first 12 minutes into a 59-37 edge at halftime. The 13 points the Mavericks scored in the second quarter were the fewest any Denver opponent has had in a period this season.
The Nuggets received contributions throughout the lineup as star center Nikola Jokic missed much of the first half with foul trouble. Will Barton scored 19 of his season-high 31 points in the first half. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the second quarter that helped Denver balloon its lead.
That lead for the Nuggets grew to 27 points after Wilson Chandler finished a feed from Jokic with a dunk to put Denver up 68-41 early in the third quarter.
The Mavericks, who were riding a four-game winning streak, began chipping away from there. When Dwight Powell stole the ball and went the other way for a dunk early in the fourth quarter, Dallas had trimmed its deficit to 11 points at 82-71.
But the Nuggets dialed up the defensive intensity again while limiting the Mavericks to only six points in the six minutes after Powell’s dunk. Gary Harris hit a 3-pointer — his fourth in a 20-point performance — to put Denver up 95-77 with less than five minutes to play and Nuggets fans headed to the exits happy.
Nuggets 110, Mavericks 87
DALLAS
Barnes 6-11 0-0 12, Nowitzki 4-8 1-2 9, Curry 6-15 0-0 15, Ferrell 4-11 5-5 15, Matthews 3-8 3-4 10, Brussino 2-2 0-2 5, Finney-Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Powell 6-8 2-4 14, Mejri 1-1 0-0 2, D.Harris 0-4 0-0 0, Anderson 1-8 0-0 3. Totals 34-79 11-17 87.
DENVER
Barton 12-18 2-2 31, Chandler 6-11 2-2 14, Jokic 5-9 3-3 13, Nelson 1-6 0-0 2, G.Harris 5-12 6-6 20, Hernangomez 3-5 1-1 7, O’Bryant 1-1 0-0 2, Arthur 3-8 0-0 7, Nurkic 1-2 1-2 3, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Murray 3-9 0-0 7, Beasley 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 42-84 15-16 110.
3-Point goals — Dallas 8-26 (Curry 3-7, Ferrell 2-5, Brussino 1-1, Matthews 1-3, Anderson 1-4, D.Harris 0-1, Finney-Smith 0-1, Powell 0-1, Nowitzki 0-1, Barnes 0-2), Denver 11-28 (Barton 5-7, G.Harris 4-5, Murray 1-2, Arthur 1-5, Hernangomez 0-1, Jokic 0-1, Chandler 0-2, Nelson 0-5). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Dallas 29 (Matthews 7), Denver 49 (Chandler 10). Assists — Dallas 25 (Matthews 8), Denver 28 (Jokic 9). Total fouls — Dallas 18, Denver 19. A — 13,047 (19,155).
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