On December 19, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. In a battle of the highlights, the Denver Nuggets host the Dallas Mavericks. In this game, the Nuggets led all the way from the beginning of the first quarter of the game, and although Doncic cut a large quasi-triple-double of 38+11+8, he was still unable to stand alone. The Nuggets eventually beat the Mavericks by 26 points, 130-104.
Nuggets (18-10): Gordon 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Murray 22 points and 4 rebounds, 8 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, respectively.
Mavericks (16-10): Doncic 38 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, Exum 11 points, Powell 8 points and 8 rebounds.
In the first quarter, Murray hit a step-back shot, Gordon added two more points, and the Nuggets led 15-9 at 6:50, and the Mavericks called a halt to the game. After a timeout, the Mavericks chased four straight points, but then Gordon hit a three-pointer to stretch the margin to seven points. At the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets led the Mavericks 28-20.
Hardaway, Doncic and Gervais hit three-pointers in the second quarter to put the Mavericks up 29-30 at 10:09. The Nuggets scored eight straight points to close the gap again. Porter's three-point shot with 2:31 left gave the Nuggets a 13-point lead at 61-48. Doncic hit two three-pointers to help the Mavericks close the gap. Murray's three-pointer opened the gap again, and Doncic hit another three-pointer to tie the score. The Mavericks trailed by nine points at halftime at 59-68.
In the first half of the third quarter, the Nuggets maintained a 10-point advantage, Gordon and Watson hit three-pointers successively, and the Nuggets launched a 10-0 attack wave, and the Nuggets led by 20 points at 94-74 with 2:02 left. After that, the two teams went back and forth on the court, and the Nuggets led 98-80 at the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, the Nuggets bench players continued to extend their lead on the court, and Watson hit a three-pointer with 9:07 left to stretch the difference to 27 points at 111-84, and the game was out of suspense. After that, the Mavericks pulled their main team, and the game went into garbage time early. The Nuggets continued to extend their lead in garbage time, eventually beating the Mavericks by 26 points, 130-104.