In a battle of two-way rookies, Ryan Nembhard shined with career-highs across the board in a high-scoring win.
The high-scoring affair between the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets on Monday night at Ball Arena - which began with 41 first-quarter points by the Nuggets and 42 second-quarter points by the Mavericks - featured the unlikely back-and-forth between two undrafted rookies on two-way contracts in Ryan Nembhard and Spencer Jones.
Those performances weren't to be outdone by a triple-double from three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and season-high in points from 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis.
In the end, it was the Mavericks earning their seventh win of the season, outlasting the Nuggets 131-121.
Dallas' rookie point guard filled up a career-high 28 points on a stellar 12-of-14 from the field to go with 10 assists. He also did not commit a turnover in 35 minutes of action.Nembhard came into the game with averages of 5.4 points and 2.9 assists per game on 43.9 percent shooting this season.
Jones exploded in that dominant first quarter with 14 points - two shy of his career-high for a game. He finished with 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting with four three-pointers.
Both of Nembhard and Jones' scoring onslaughts were the highest-scoring performances by two-way players across the NBA this season.
As the Nuggets were on an 0-11 streak from the field in the fourth quarter, Nembhard hit a fadeaway jumper with under two minutes remaining to stretch Dallas' largest lead of the game. He then posted his career-high 10th assist by finding Max Christie for a corner three-pointer to push the lead to double-digits.
His 10 assists are a Mavs record for an undrafted rookie in a single game.
Jokic achieved his 11th triple-double in his 20th game of the season for the Nuggets with 29 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists. He solidified the stat line with five assists in the first five minutes of the third quarter, but with seven minutes remaining in the period, it was remarkably not even the fifth-fasted triple-double of Jokic's historic career.
The Mavs at one point trailed by 17 points in the first quarter (were outscored 41-27), but responded with a strong showing by Nembhard, who found the shooting stroke with a streak of five consecutive makes from the field in the period. Dallas outscored Denver 42-27 in the second quarter.
Davis was playing in his second game since returning from a monthlong absence with a calf strain and lead all scorers at halftime with 21 points in 16 minutes. Davis finished the game by pouring in a season-high 32 points to go with a team-high 13 rebounds.
The Mavs' other notable rookie, top overall pick Cooper Flagg, followed up his two historic performances last week with 24 points in Dallas' highest offensive-rated game of the season.
It's Dallas' first two-game winning streak since March of last season.
The Mavs improve to 7-15 on the year and host the Miami Heat on Wednesday at American Airlines Center.