Mavs Earn Sixth Win of Season Over Nuggets

The Dallas Mavericks gathered a much needed win against the Denver Nuggets tonight. Wesley Matthews was a big reason for the win.

The NBA-worst Mavs dominated the Denver Nuggets Monday night, thrashing the mile-high visitors wire-to-wire by a tally of 112-92. Wesley Matthews continued his insane hot streak, tallying 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.

Matthews’ hot shooting was instantly apparent as he drilled 5 of his 7 three-point attempts and shot 10-14 overall. It was the undrafted free agent’s third straight game with 25+ points.

The Mavs grabbed win number six for the year, but it was by far their best showing of the season. Smooth, precise passing led to an extremely efficient offensive flow that allowed Dallas’s stingy defense to shut down Denver’s top scorers, Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic.

Putting up 112 points at home, Matthews led the way while rising star Harrison Barnes chipped in with 18 points, while Deron Williams put up 17 points and 8 assists.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise for the Mavs this season other than Harrison Barnes has been  undrafted rookie Dorian Finney-Smith. Finney-Smith’s impressively versatile defense has drawn comparisons to former Maverick Shawn Marion, but he has also provided surprising offense from the small forward position. Scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 important rebounds, Finney-Smith has proven to be anything but the offensive liability it appeared he would be at the start of the season.

Salah Mejri also had a great game in the absence of Andrew Bogut with 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks.

The Mavs improved to 6-18 with their win over the Nuggets. With 59 games still left to play, their is still reason to believe the Mavs could get on a hot streak and catch up with the rest of the Western Conference. With several aging veterans on the roster that could be used as trade bait, the Mavs will be much more reluctant to deal any of their assets if they continue to play as well as they did on Monday night.

Andrew Bogut, Wesley Matthews, and Deron Williams could all draw interest from some contending teams looking to add a final piece to their personal championship puzzle. But for now, the Mavs are attempting to salvage their season, and helped their cause on Monday night.

The Dallas Mavericks will look to start a winning streak this Wednesday against Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons. The game will start at 7:30 CT.