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Stats Rundown: 5 numbers to know from the Mavericks’ gutsy 123-120 win at the Denver Nuggets

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Stats Rundown: 5 numbers to know from the Mavericks’ gutsy 123-120 win at the Denver Nuggets


The Dallas Mavericks (9-7) showed a little backbone in crunch time on Friday, gutting out a 123-120 win over the Denver Nuggets (8-6) at Ball Arena. Sure, the Mavericks coughed up a 24-point lead in the process, but they didn’t fold, even without Luka Dončić, who missed the game with a wrist sprain.

Dereck Lively II blocked two big shots in the game’s final two minutes to help P.J. Washington key a late 9-0 Mavs run to preserve the win. Naji Marshall led seven Mavericks scoring in double figures with 26 points in the win, but Washington was huge down the stretch as well and ended the night with 22 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in the loss.

Here are five stats that tell the tale of what went down in Denver on Friday night.

7-of-9: Quentin Grimes’ and P.J. Washington’s shooting start

Playing without the safety net that is Dončić, the scoring was going to have to come from somewhere for the Mavericks. As they’ve done a couple of times before this season, the Mavs force-fed Washington in the post early in the first. He made his first three shot attempts on two post-up opportunities against smaller Denver defenders and a mid-range banker that gave the Mavs an early 9-3 advantage just two and a half minutes in. Quentin Grimes took Dončić’s spot in the starting lineup and promptly hit his first two 3-point attempts to apply a little early pressure on Denver’s home floor.

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Kyrie Irving found Grimes streaking in transition for an easy dunk that put Dallas up 18-9 with just under seven minutes left in the first. Grimes hit his fourth straight shot attempt to start the game less than two minutes later, a mid-range jumper with a hand in his face that kept the Mavericks in front, 22-15 at the time.

Grimes led all scorers with 10 points in the first, but Denver chipped away at the lead in the last four minutes of the frame, and Dallas led 33-31 after one.

15-2: Mavs’ late second-quarter run

Irving and Naji Marshall ignited a 15-2 Mavericks run as the second quarter wound down to give Dallas a little breathing room before halftime. Jokic scored underneath after rebounding his own miss over Lively to pull the Nuggets to within 47-44 midway through the second, but Irving and Marshall combined to score 17 of the game’s next 20 points as the Mavs built their lead to as large as 19 points. Irving’s drive through the lane with 2:19 left in the first half gave the Mavericks a 63-46 lead. Marshall kept Dallas’ momentum rolling about a minute later with a tough drive in transition through several Denver defenders to give the Mavs a 67-49 advantage.

Irving and Marshall scored 15 apiece in the first half, while Jokic led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Nuggets. The Mavs went off for 40 in the second quarter and led 73-53 at the break. The second quarter was the second time Dallas has scored 40 or more in a quarter this season.

13-of-15: Dallas’ first-half shooting in the restricted area

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Kyrie Irving #11 and Dereck Lively II #2 of the Dallas Mavericks look on during the game against the Denver Nuggets during the Emirates NBA Cup game on November 22, 2024 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

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Any way you look at it, Dallas was dominant inside in the first half. It would be a very repeatable way to win should the Mavs choose to repeat the effort any time soon. There was a concerted effort on everyone’s part to get to the rim whether in transition or in the halfcourt offense.

The Mavs shot 13-of-15 in the restricted area in the first half at Denver. They outscored the Nuggets 44-20 in the paint in the first half as well. It wasn’t just Lively and Daniel Gafford feasting in the middle, either. Seven of Irving’s 12 first-half shot attempts came at or near the rim. Marshall and Washington got involved, consistently getting shots in the lane if not right at the rim. It was a big part of the reason the Mavericks shot 30-of-49 (61.2%) from the field in the first half.

27-6: Denver’s third-quarter run fueled by Michael Porter Jr.

Dallas held Michael Porter Jr. to just four points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. Without Aaron Gordon (calf strain) in the lineup, Porter Jr.’s lack of production was no small part of what set Denver back in the first half.

He hit a finger roll in the lane and a step-back in the midrange on back-to-back possessions early in the quarter before driving through the teeth of the Dallas defense for a dunk and following that up with a long 3-pointer the next time down to bring the Nuggets to within 81-69 midway through the third. It all stretched into an excruciating 27-6 Nuggets run that brought Denver all the way back to within six, down just 83-77 after Jokic’ leaner in the lane with 3:29 left in the third. Porter Jr. scored 11 on 5-of-6 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-point range) in the quarter, and the Mavs’ led 95-89 heading into the fourth.

26: A career-high scoring night for Naji Marshall

Marshall provided the big bucket the Mavericks needed time and time again down the stretch. He never shied away from the big moment, showing that knack for getting into the lane and scoring on tough leaners. He weaved through the Denver defense and finished with a high banker late in the shot clock with 20 seconds left to play to give the Mavs a 119-115 lead. That basket also gave Marshall a new career-high scoring night with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting.

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He wasn’t just a threat going to the bucket, either. After missing his last 14 3-point attempts coming into the game, Marshall hit 3-of-4 from distance in the win over the Nuggets. The Dallas bench outscored the Denver bench 57-24 behind Marshall’s 26 in the win.

You can listen to our latest podcast episode in the player embedded below, and to make sure you don’t miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Pod Maverick podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Pocketcasts, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox.

You can check out our After Dark Recap podcasts, YouTube Live recordings, and guest shows on the Pod Maverick Podcast feed. Please subscribe, rate, and review.



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Denver apartment residents frustrated after months of problems

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Denver apartment residents frustrated after months of problems – CBS Colorado

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Colorado chef transforms pozole from an ancient dish tied to family traditions — to a culinary passion

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Colorado chef transforms pozole from an ancient dish tied to family traditions — to a culinary passion


DENVER — Christmas just isn’t Christmas without the festive foods we grew up with, and for many Mexican Americans in Colorado, that means a steaming pot of pozole.

“These are the foods that I grew up craving,” said Chef Jose Avila Vilchez, who runs La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal in Denver’s Ballpark District.

Chef Vilchez grew up eating pozole in Mexico City. Every Thursday, he went with his mom and brother to enjoy two-for-one specials on the traditional soup.

But when he moved to Denver more than a decade ago, the pozolerias of his childhood were nowhere to be found.

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Adam Hillberry, Denver7

Chef Vilchez has served up traditional Mexican dishes at his other Denver restaurants Machete Tequila + Tacos and El Borrego Negro. La Diabla is his chance to share another meal close to his heart: pozole.

“Red posole is a thing. So, in 100% of the Mexican restaurants here, that’s what you would find, a red pozole, but it was more for as a filler than as a main dish,” he said.

So, he opened La Diabla to serve up flavors many Coloradans haven’t tasted before.

While red pozole is a still a favorite, Chef Vilchez also studied recipes from across Mexico to make green, white and even black pozole.

“Our pozole negro, it’s a unique thing. That’s something that we invented,” said Chef Vilchez, who drew inspiration from a mole recipe popular in Yucatan. The black color comes from chilmole paste and charred rocoto chiles.

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Chef Jose Vilchez Avila of La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal | Denver

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Pozole negro is a unique dish created by Chef Vilchez for La Diabla.

“The flavor is just amazing, even just the broth,” he said.

But even with these innovative and varied broths, at the heart of each dish is pozole’s ancient history.

“Pozole is a ceremonial dish,” Chef Vilchez said.

The Aztecs prepared pozole from corn — which they considered sacred — and human flesh sacrificed in religious ceremonies. After Spanish colonizers came to the Americas, the Mexica people stopped practicing cannibalism and replaced the meat in pozole with pigs and chickens.

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Aztecs eating human sacrifice pozole

Florentine Codex

Before the arrival of Spanish colonizers, the Aztecs ate pozole as a ceremonial dish made from sacred corn and human sacrifices offered to their god Xipe.

As the pot boiled, the foam bubbling to the top gave the dish its name – the Nahuatl word for foam is “pozolli.”

“Even though we lost a lot of dishes that they used to make back in the day, the Mexica’s pozole still is like… a celebration,” Chef Vilchez said.

Hundreds of years later, the star ingredient in pozole remains the same: Corn. And Chef Vilchez uses the traditional process of nixtamalization to soften the kernels.

He sources high-quality corn and puts it in a pot of boiling water and cal (calcium hydroxide), which creates an alkaline solution that partially dissolves the corn’s hard skin and transforms the corn’s taste and texture.

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corn nixtamalization

Adam Hillberry, Denver7

The Aztecs created the process of nixtamalization, which comes from the Nahuatl words nextli, meaning ashes and tamali meaning cooked corn dough.

“Once you have, like a mother pozole, per se, like a white broth, then you can add the salsa,” Chef Vilchez said.

He also adds in vegetables like thinly sliced radishes, cabbage, onion and lettuce, as well as meat like chicken or pork.

While Chef Vilchez serves pozole year-round, many people associate it with holidays.

In Mexico City, he grew up eating pozole on Mexican Independence Day, “especially if you have the red, the white and the green, just like the Mexican flag,” he said.

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But here in Colorado, and in much of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, pozole is most popular around Christmastime.

As a homemade family meal, “you make the pozole, and that pot stays in the kitchen. It never leaves. You make it there. You let it do its thing, and once it’s ready, you start serving from the pot,” Chef Vilchez said.

Positive News

Christmas in Colorado is a time to unwrap gifts — and tamales

For Cristóbal Garcia — who was born in Valparaíso, Zacatecas, and then grew up in Colorado where his mother’s family has lived for eleven generations — pozole is very much tied to Christmas.

“During the holidays leading up to Nochebuena, or what we know here as Christmas Eve,” Garcia said his family celebrated Las Posadas with pozole and tamales.

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“It’s about connecting with your family, connecting with your friends, connecting with your neighbors,” he said.

Since his father immigrated from central Mexico, his mother grew up in Colorado and his wife’s family is from coastal Sinaloa and northern Chihuahua, he’s enjoyed tasting many different recipes for pozole.

“My mother-in-law makes it with a green chile base, and she makes it with chicken sometimes instead of with pork,” he said.

While his sisters cook their Abuelita’s recipe for red pozole passed down for generations, and now shared with you in the recipe below:

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For Garcia, who directs the Metropolitan State University of Denver’s First-Generation Initiatives, celebrating with these traditional foods is a chance for Coloradans to reflect on culture, identity and the state’s history.

“Sometimes people say, ‘ni de aquí, ni de allá [not from here nor from there]. And I say, ‘soy de aquí y de allá [I’m from here and from there],” he said.

Whether you cook your own pozole or savor a bowl from a restaurant like La Diabla, both Garcia and Chef Vilchez hope Coloradans will spend time communing over a flavorful meal.

Chef Vilchez said he’s been “blessed and super humbled” to receive awards like the James Beard and the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand awards. But it means even more to him when customers say the food brings back warm memories of meals shared with their families.

“When you touch someone’s soul like that… it’s just a different connection on a personal level,” he said.

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Recap: Denver Nuggets win big against the Phoenix Suns – Denver Stiffs

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Recap: Denver Nuggets win big against the Phoenix Suns – Denver Stiffs


The Denver Nuggets started the first half of their home and home with the Phoenix Suns at Ball Arena on Monday night. Both teams were shorthanded with the Nuggets missing Jamal Murray and the Suns missing Devin Booker. The other stars for both teams did their parts but the Nuggets had far more support, including a very solid night from their group of young reserves. Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. did most of the heavy lifting and that pair plus the young bench was a formula for a blowout as Denver wins 117-90.

Phoenix got an early lead through sharing the ball among their starters while Denver didn’t get a ton of easy shots but hit their threes to keep it close. Porter had a hot start to keep Denver afloat in the middle of the first but their collective defense was lacking. MPJ was relentless, an and-one put him up to twelve points in the quarter and tied the game at seventeen. Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson got minutes down the stretch of the first to leave Denver’s lineup as Jokic + the bench. There wasn’t a ton of offense outside of Joker but the defense was strong and that got the Nuggets a lead. After one quarter it was 27-26 Denver.

There wasn’t much offense to speak of to start the second quarter but the bench unit’s defense continued to be impressive. They kept Phoenix from getting a point for over two minutes and made everything difficult. Pickett had a solid shift in particular for the reserve group and helped grow the lead to five before Russell Westbrook and Jokic checked back in (Jokic immediately buried a three). Shortly after they checked back in Jokic got stepped on by Jusuf Nurkic and looked to be in pain but stayed in the game. After that, Durant started getting to the free throw line to spark an 11-0 Phoenix run to get the lead back for the Suns briefly. Denver’s starters responded, Jokic started giving Nurkic want some refer to as “the business” and the Nuggets took back the lead. After two quarters they were up 55-51.

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Jokic and Porter got right back to it to start the second half. After a Westbrook jam pushed the lead to eleven the Suns were forced to take an early timeout. Phoenix stopped the bleeding after that but weren’t able to make much headway on Denver’s lead either. Westbrook came alive and led an energetic shift for the starters that could have blown the game wide open if not for Bradley Beal. Aaron Gordon got in on the action by knocking down threes and suddenly the lead was up above twenty. Denver’s defense got a little bit lazy after that and Phoenix was able to work the lead back down for a little bit. They trimmed it back under fifteen but a strong close in the final minute put Denver back up big. After three they led 100-79.

Michael Malone opened the fourth with a DeAndre Jordan plus the kids lineup (Pickett, Julian Strawther, Tyson, Peyton Watson) and they struggled to score but once again had enough defense to hold the Suns at bay. Strawther knocked down some threes and was essentially the only one getting any points until Tyson, who was as energetic as ever, hustled up a rebound and then went coast to coast with a huge jam. The DJ + bench group continued to play solid minutes and eventually made time a factor as they held the twenty plus lead through the middle of the fourth. Malone emptied the bench and gave the two-way contract guys some game time with just under four minutes to go. They kept up the energy and Denver wins big, 117-90.

Jokic and Porter was a two headed monster

Dec 23, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) calls out in the second quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Without Murray the Nuggets needed Porter to step up tonight and he did exactly that. He came out aggressive and wasn’t afraid to go shot for shot with an all-time great in Durant. He carried Denver through big chunks of the game and when he wasn’t, it was Nikola instead. Joker was in a bit of a scoring slump coming into tonight but that didn’t last. He led all scorers with thirty-two points and went four of six from the three point line. Nurkic looked completely helpless at times and got into foul trouble quickly trying to contain the three-time MVP. Denver got on runs with the help of some other guys too but Porter and Jokic were the players they could rely on consistently to get buckets when they needed them. It goes to show how valuable a guy like MPJ can be when he’s a focal point of the offense and playing off an all time great like Nikola.

The young bench gets it done

Malone leaned on his young reserves heavily tonight, comprising his bench group entirely out of his steady veteran in Jordan, and players with less than three full seasons of NBA experience. It wasn’t always pretty on the offensive end but that group brought consistent energy and focus on defense to keep Phoenix from cutting into the lead. Denver’s pair of 2023 second round draft picks, Pickett and Tyson, both had nice games. You could see Pickett’s confidence grow as the game went on and he looked every bit of an NBA backup point guard tonight. Tyson didn’t score a ton but brought a ton of energy to the floor and helped shore up one of Denver’s biggest weaknesses: defensive rebounding. If those two guys can continue to put together solid rotation minutes it’s going to be an absolute boon for Denver.





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