National Basketball Association
Dallas 116, Denver 115
When: 10:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #3 Nick Buchert, #54 Ray Acosta, #42 Eric Lewis
Attendance: 19520

Luka Doncic had 22 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a season-high 29 points and the visiting Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 116-115 on Tuesday night.

Dorian Finney-Smith scored 19 points, Christian Wood added 14 and Spencer Dinwiddie 13 for the Mavericks.

Aaron Gordon had 27 points and eight rebounds to pace the Nuggets. Reserve Bones Hyland scored 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 19 along with eight rebounds and eight assists, Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each had 12 points and Jamal Murray added 11.

Denver trailed 95-90 early in the fourth when Hyland drained a long 3-pointer, Wood answered with a layup and Christian Braun hit a corner 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 97-96.

Maxi Kleber scored the next five points, Hyland answered with a 3-pointer, Hardaway fed Finney-Smith for a dunk and then hit a 3-pointer to make it 107-99 with 5:03 left.

The lead grew to 10 with 4:07 remaining, but Brown hit a 3-pointer, Jokic converted a three-point play and Brown made two free throws to cut it to 111-109.

Doncic missed two fadeaway jumpers and Brown drained a corner 3-pointer with 37.9 seconds left to cap an 11-0 run. Finney-Smith's 3-pointer with 17.3 seconds left put Dallas back in front, 114-112.

Jokic split a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left, Dinwiddie made two foul shots and Murray sank two with 6.3 seconds left. Hardaway missed two free throws with 4.2 seconds left, but Murray's desperation heave was off at the final horn.

The Mavericks led by eight in the first half before the Nuggets got within 61-58 late, but Doncic drained a long 3-pointer to give Dallas a 64-58 lead at halftime.

Denver opened the third quarter with an 11-3 run to go up 69-67, but the Mavericks rallied.

Hardaway sank three free throws before Caldwell-Pope answered with a 13-footer, but Hardaway hit a pair of 3-pointers and Finney-Smith added one from the wing to give Dallas a 79-71 lead.

The Nuggets got within 86-84 on two free throws by Brown with 1:24 left in the period and trailed 91-86 heading into the fourth.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Denver
Tim Hardaway Jr. 29 Scoring Aaron Gordon 27
Luka Doncic 12 Assists Nikola Jokic 8
Luka Doncic 10 Rebounds Aaron Gordon 8
Tim Hardaway Jr. 9 Free Throws Made Jamal Murray 7
Dorian Finney-Smith 3 Steals Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 2
Luka Doncic 1 Blocks Bruce Brown 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Dallas 116 50.0 17-36 27-31 27 35 4 10 17
Denver 115 51.3 13-32 22-28 30 36 4 8 17
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game on the road against Portland. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .533 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against Milwaukee. The Mavericks have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .636 after a loss.