On December 19, 2023, Beijing time, in today's NBA game, the 17-10 Nuggets hosted the 16-9 Mavericks, and the Nuggets big man Pope returned, starters: Murray + Pope + Porter + Gordon + Jokic, the Mavericks Irving and Lively were absent, and the combat power was seriously damaged, starters: Doncic + Exum + Jones + Gwee + Powell. Doncic vs Jokic is the biggest attraction of this game.
In the first quarter of the game, Jokic and Gordon were 5-0, Jones, Doncic and Powell tied the difference, Jokic and Pope scored, Powell made a layup in the front court, the difference was 2 points, Murray and Gordon expanded the difference to 6 points, Hardaway and Gervais chased the difference to 2 points, Pope, Jokic and Gordon expanded the difference to 7 points, Doncic and Morris scored, Reggie scored consecutive points in response, and the Nuggets led 28-20 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Hardaway and Doncic hit two three-pointers in a row, with a difference of 2 points, Najib, Braun, and Watson expanded the difference to 9 points, Doncic hit three points in a row, Strawther, Reggie, and Porter responded, and the difference was still 9 points, Exum, Jones, and Hardaway scored, Gordon, Murray, and Pope responded, with a difference of 12 points, Doncic scored continuously, Murray, and Gordon responded strongly, and the difference was still 12 points, Doncic scored three points, and the Nuggets led 68-59 at halftime. Doncic scored 22 points in the second quarter.
Jokic had 6 points, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals on 3-of-6 shooting in the half, Gordon had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists on 5-of-6 shooting, Murray had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and Doncic had 28 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists on 10-of-16 shooting (6-of-9 three-pointers) for the Mavericks, and Hardaway had 8 points and 2 boards.
In the third quarter of the game, Doncic and Exum scored, Murray scored 7 points in a row to respond, with a difference of 12 points, Exum scored three points, Gordon dunked, and the difference was 11 points, Doncic and Gwee chased the difference to 7 points, Murray and Pope expanded the difference to 12 points, Jones and Doncic scored, Jokic, Porter, Braun, and Gordon responded, with a difference of 17 points, the Nuggets paused, and after the timeout, Strauser scored three points, with a difference of 20 points, Lawson and Doncic scored, Reggie responded, and the Nuggets led 98-80 after the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Reggie and Strauser scored, the Nuggets led by 23 points, Powell and Doncic scored, Nagy, Reggie and Watson responded, with a difference of 27 points, Lawson, Hardy, and Brown scored, Nagy, Braun, Reggie, and Strauser responded, with a difference of 32 points, with 5 minutes left in the game, the suspense of the game was completely lost, and then the Nuggets firmly held the big lead, and finally the Nuggets defeated the Mavericks 130-104.
Jokic got 8 points, 9 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals in 3 of 8, this game was due to the Nuggets playing very well, Jokic chose to maintain health, Murray got 22 points, 4 boards and 2 assists in 8 of 14, Gordon got 21 points, 5 boards and 5 assists in 7 of 9, Reggie got 20 points, 1 board and 4 assists in 9 of 12, Nagy 14 points and 4 boards, Strauser 12 points and 3 boards, Watson 10 points, 7 boards and 3 assists.
Doncic finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on 13-of-24 shooting (6-of-12 from three-point range), Exum had 11 points, one rebound and two assists, and the others scored without a double-double.
After the Nuggets defeated the Mavericks, the Western Conference ranking changed dramatically, the Nuggets moved from fourth to third in the West, the Mavericks fell from third to fifth, and the Kings became fourth in the West, but the Kings also have games today, and the ranking will be variable.