Mavericks 92 Nuggets 81: Game 17 Recap

The Lead
Thanks to a record breaking third quarter defense, the Mavs end their three game losing streak.

Box Score

Leaders
Mavs
Points: Williams, 22
Rebounds: Pachulia, 12
Assists: Williams, Matthews, 4
+-: Pachulia, +20
Nuggets
Points: Arthur, 16
Rebounds: Gallinari, 9
Assists: Mudiay, Barton, 4
+-: Faried, +4

Game Ball
Deron Williams
22 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 4-8 3PT

X-Factor
Raymond Felton
12 points, 2 steals, 5-10 FG

Play of the Game
Early in the fourth quarter after Raymond Felton and Devin Harris had shots at the rim blocked, Wesley Matthews kicked out the rebound to Dirk, who hit a three to put the Mavs up by a game high 20 points.

Stat of the Game
The Mavs held the Nuggets, to a team franchise opponent low of 5 points in the third quarter. Denver didn't score until there was 3:05 left in the period by which point the Mavs had gone on a 16-0 run.

Of Note

• The Mavs have won 5 straight games at home after losing their first two games of the season at the AAC.
• Zaza Pachulia recorded his 10th double-double of the year and fifth in six games with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Pachulia was coming off a disappointing effort in San Antonio where he only had 4 points and 0 rebounds.
• The Nuggets started two local products. Emanuel Mudiay in his first pro game in Dallas had 12 points on 5-15 shooting while South Oak Cliff's Darrell Arthur had a team high 16 points.  
• Denver shot 2-19 from the field and had 7 turnovers in the third quarter.
• J.J. Barea missed the first of at least three games he is expected to miss with a sprained right ankle.

Quote of Note
 “You know, we talked in the locker room that defensively we gave up 52 points against a team that played last night. They were shooting 50 percent on two-point field goals and 50 percent from three, and it didn’t help us at all. We had to lock in defensively, and that’s what we did. We came out aggressively. We were trapping, making them skip the ball from side to side, and a lot of teams don’t want to do that. And I think we did a really good job. We were really active, and hands were moving. It was beautiful to see the lineup working that hard defensively.”
Zaza Pachulia

Tweet of the Night

not a controversial take: zaza has been as effective as deandre and tyson.

— Mavs Moneyball (@mavsmoneyball) November 29, 2015

Next Up
The Mavericks (10-7) had out back on the road for a date Monday night with old "friend" Rajon Rondo and the Sacramento Kings (6-12).