The Denver Nuggets travel to Texas to face the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on Monday. The Nuggets (9-7) come into this matchup in the midst of a three-game winning streak, grabbing two impressive wins over the weekend. That happened to be a back-to-back set against the Phoenix Suns, prevailing in both of those road outings. Beating a team that’s that talented twice in a row is impressive enough but it’s even more surprising when you consider that both games went into overtime. Nikola Jokic had a 20-20 game in the most recent win on Saturday and it’s scary just how good he’s been. The superstar center is currently averaging 25.8 points, 12 rebounds and 9.6 assists per game. That’s obviously absurd and it’s amazing they’ve been able to hold their heads above water despite Jamal Murray, Will Barton and Michael Porter having their fair share of struggles themselves. If those guys get going, look out for this team! The Mavericks (8-8) have a triple-double machine themselves, with Luka Doncic looking like one of the frontrunners for MVP. The 21-year-old is now averaging 26.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. These two buddies from overseas have changed the way basketball is looked at and it should be fun to watch them do battle here. Dallas isn’t playing as well as Denver though, entering this matchup losing four of their last six games. The most recent loss was particularly disturbing, allowing 133 points to a shorthanded Houston Rockets team. That game was so lopsided, Doncic didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. That means he should be ready to go here though and there’s some talk that Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Richardson and Maxi Kleber could return from the COVID list as well. These teams played back on January 7, with Dallas prevailing in overtime, 124-117. That gives the Mavericks three wins in their last four matchups with the Nuggets.
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