Mavericks score first 16 points of second half, beat Nuggets
DALLAS (AP) - The Dallas Mavericks could point to the best defensive quarter in the team's 36-year history for ending a three-game losing streak.
The Mavericks outscored the Denver Nuggets 25-5 in the third period - beginning with a 16-0 run that lasted almost nine minutes - and won 92-81 on Saturday night.
Dallas limited Denver to 10.5 percent shooting in the period (2 for 19), and outscored the Nuggets 44-29 in the second half. Denver committed seven turnovers in the third quarter.
The five-point period erased the Los Angeles Lakers' seven-point third quarter on Jan. 16, 2012, from Dallas' record book.
"We finally played with a little more energy," Dirk Nowitzki said of Dallas' third quarter. "Overall, I like how we worked for each other."
Deron Williams led the Mavericks with 22 points. Zaza Pachulia added 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season.
Dallas has won five straight at home. The Nuggets began a five-game road trip, equaling their longest of the season, with their sixth straight loss.
Darrell Arthur, who attended Dallas' South Oak Cliff High, scored 16 points. Will Barton added 14 off the bench, 12 in the second half.
Williams, who played his high school ball locally at The Colony, was 4 for 8 on 3-pointers in scoring at least 20 points for the third time in his last five games. Signed during the offseason, Williams fell one short of his season high in points and added four assists and four rebounds.
Emmanuel Mudiay, the No. 7 draftee last summer after playing his high school ball in nearby Arlington, Texas and Dallas, scored 12 for the Nuggets on 5-for-15 shooting. Danilo Gallinari had 12 points, all in the first half. He shot 0 for 7 in the second half.
"We have to get stops, and we came out flat," said Mudiay, who played last season in China after initially signing to play at Dallas' Southern Methodist University.
The Nuggets scored the game's first seven points, shot 52.6 percent in the first half and led 52-48 at intermission. Denver outrebounded Dallas 25-15 in the half and limited Nowitzki, the Mavericks' leading scorer at 17.4 points per game, to two field-goal attempts and two points.
"You can't go on the road and beat yourself," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "We talked about that at halftime. When you are struggling to score, you cannot beat yourself by turning the ball over that many times."
Nowitzki finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Raymond Felton added 12 points off the bench, eight in the first half.
Kenneth Faried played 14 minutes off the bench after missing Denver's previous three games with a left ankle sprain. He had 10 points and five rebounds.
PARSONS PROJECT
Dallas' Chandler Parsons, still on a minutes restriction following offseason knee surgery, played 23 minutes and scored four points. His high minutes this season is 24:53, last Tuesday at Memphis, and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said it's too early to assess Parsons' performance. "You can't judge him until mid-December or January," Carlisle said.
VARIED RESUME
With Faried and Joffrey Lauvergne back in Denver's rotation of big men, Malone used a novel explanation for how he'll deal with doling out minutes across the frontcourt: "I used to work in the circus, so juggling is nothing new to me. Chainsaws. Fire. Whatever you want."
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Gary Harris, who started all of Denver's first 16 games, sat out after sustaining a concussion in the Nuggets' previous game against San Antonio on Friday. . This was the back end of Denver's fourth back-to-back so far this season, all losses and all on the road.
Mavericks: Carlisle's 629th career NBA win moved him into 22nd place, breaking a tie with Doug Moe. . J.J. Barea sat out with a sprained right ankle. He's expected to miss three games.
UP NEXT
Nuggets: At Milwaukee on Monday night.
Mavericks: At Sacramento on Monday night