Dallas Mavericks vs Denver Nuggets Prediction: The Mavs can notch this one

The NBA Regular Season has gifted to us with a number of exciting battles and we are bound to only see the action heat up further. There have been some sweet surprises while some sensational shocks but things are still in the baby phase and there is plenty of action that remains, with no clear contender in sight thus far. In this game, one of the highly rated players, Luka Doncic will carry his Dallas Mavericks against a highly short-handed Denver Nuggets.

The Mavericks march into the affair after raiding the Nuggets 127:99 as Luka Doncic scooped up 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists to continue his MVP season. The Mavs haven’t been as clinical as they’d want, winning just three of their last six games but a 9 wins and the six-losses record is still respectable, to say the least. Luka Doncic has been obviously the one responsible for this winning record and he continues to carry a one-star team to new heights each day. The Mavericks are among the bottom-scoring teams and that is mostly because of the lack of scoring depth.

Spencer Dinwiddie has done job as a second option in the starting lineup while Chrisitan Wood has been an effective option too. However, Tim Hardaway has struggled to keep his production up. One huge issue has been that the team hasn’t received much from their Forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock, whose main job is on the defensive end. That is why there is a glaring lack of scoring depth so the team is highly dependent upon tough defense and the hot hand of Doncic. Will they be able to make a Conference Finals run again or will their lack of firepower hurt them in long run?

The Nuggets come into this game after losing to the aforementioned Mavs 99:127 with no player even touching the 20-point mark. The Nuggets have lost three of their last four games and have lost all the touch. The goddess of injury continues to betray them and after missing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for almost all of the last season, now Nikola Jokic has hit the injury bug. To add to the woes, Jamal also is struggling with injuries like last season and just when the team was generating a special run, they have been hit with absentees. Because of that they now have six losses but still a decent nine wins.

However, these absences don’t seem to be long-term and Jokic alongside Murray are likely to resume soon. In their absence, the team loses their leader Jokic who keeps them ticking on scoring, playmaking and rebounding end while being without a strong scorer in Murray. This shifts the onus upon Michael Porter Jr, who is a wonderful defender but his offense is better when Jokic is there. Meanwhile, the team’s decision to pick up Bruce Brown has worked out as the versatile wing has been handling the ball and also performing at a high rate on all ends. Bones Hyland needs to be more consistent while Aaron Gordon is needed to unlock some of his best games, which has done repeatedly. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been amazing on both ends.

• Mavericks: OUT: Maxi Kleber;
• Nuggets: OUT: Ish Smith, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Collin Gillespie

• Expected Leading Scorers: Luka Doncic(30+ Points), Michael Porter Jr.(18-25 Points), Spencer Dinwiddie(17-2 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Luka Doncic(10-13 Rebounds), Deandre Jordan(9-12 Rebounds),Christian Wood(8-12 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Luka Doncic(10-13 Assists), Bruce Brown(6-9 Assists).

The Mavericks are a tough team to get by at home and they will ace a depleted Nuggets team that is without Nikola Jokic and also Jamal Murray. Doncic was amazing in the last battle between the two and it seems like almost no team has had an answer for him, especially when he gets it going at home. The Nuggets will hope that Porter Jr and Bruce have big games while Aaron Gordon returns to make the team more athletic.

The Mavericks can be in for a big-time victory here and it will be interesting to see how they approach this match-up. This is a big test for the bench of the Nuggets and also opens up minutes for players hungry to get bigger roles. I believe the Mavs will win big again and the total points range can be 222-232. I predict a 124:107 win for the Mavericks.