Nuggets' Jamal Murray scores season-high 53 points in win over Mavericks

Bennett Durando, The Denver Post on Mar 26, 2026

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Recent effects of climate change in Denver have been traced to Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.

Temperatures reached highs of 89 degrees and remained above 70 after sunset Wednesday as Murray scored his 26th point of the first half. Miming as if he had suffered a burn on his right hand, he played to the sellout crowd at Ball Arena and invited fans to egg him on. They didn’t want to see anyone else shoot it. He made another 3-pointer before the visiting Mavericks started hard-doubling him at midcourt.

Murray scored 33 points before halftime — including Denver’s last 13 — and finished the game with a season-best 53 to lead the Nuggets to their fourth consecutive win, 142-135 over Dallas. The All-Star point guard shot 19 for 28 in second 50-point game this season and 21st with 30 or more. Denver (46-28) improved to 11-0 in his regular-season career when he scores 40, including 5-0 this season.

The Mavericks blitzed Murray’s pick-and-rolls more aggressively in the second half, determined to take away the hot hand. He and the Nuggets obliged with pristine ball movement. They amassed 36 assists as a team to only nine turnovers.

Nikola Jokic was responsible for 19 assists on his own, bringing his combined total to 36 in a span of 24 hours. This was the second game of a back-to-back for the Nuggets, who tipped off at 9:13 p.m. MT the previous night in Phoenix. After beating the Suns, their postgame flight home landed just past 3 a.m. Wednesday. Jokic registered his 29th and 30th triple-doubles of the season in the two wins. He secured both early in the third quarter.

The final stat line read 23-17-17 on Tuesday. It read 23-21-19 on Wednesday. Jokic is already the owner of the only 30-20-20 line in NBA history. He finished this game one assist shy of the fourth 20-20-20.

The absence of defense allowed the tanking Mavericks to stay within striking distance most of the game. Rookie sensation Cooper Flagg led them with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. They closed the gap to 93-92 with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but Denver ended the frame on an 18-6 run. It was capped by a behind-the-back pass from Jokic to a cutting Peyton Watson for an easy dunk.

Then the Mavericks experienced a lapse in discipline against Murray. Kept quiet for most of the third, he buoyed the Nuggets for a stint without Jokic to start the fourth. With a 9-for-14 showing from deep to strengthen his All-NBA campaign, Murray improved to 42.6% from 3-point range this season while crossing 500 attempts.

Aaron Gordon sat out the second leg of the back-to-back, following a trend of caution when Denver has played on 24 hours of rest. David Adelman and other team officials have been wary of overworking the do-it-all power forward after watching him deal with a recurring right hamstring strain throughout the season.

Conversely, Watson (also for right hamstring management) sat out the first game Tuesday in Phoenix, then played the second. He remained on a minutes restriction and came off the bench, as Adelman started Spencer Jones to guard Flagg. But Watson came through late, burying a 3-pointer that stretched Denver’s lead to seven with three minutes to play.

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