The Denver Nuggets suffered a surprising 131-121 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at home in Denver. It was the Nuggets' fourth straight loss at home.

Anthony Davis exploded for a season-high 32 points along with 13 rebounds. He was followed close behind by guards Ryan Nembhard and Cooper Flagg, who scored 28 and 24 points, respectively.

The Nuggets came out of the gate strong but found themselves outpaced in the second quarter and trailed by one point at halftime. The third was a return to form for Denver, but the fourth quarter, again, saw them outmatched. The Mavericks outscored the Nuggets by 12 points to take home the win.

Following the game, Denver head coach David Adelman identified a lack of physicality on the defensive end as the fatal flaw that sunk his team. Adelman was particularly upset at the lack of fouls the Nuggets committed in the game, seeing it as a sign that his players weren't willing to play gritty enough on defense. 

The Nuggets Lacked Physicality

"We're not physical enough right now. And I think the stat that stands out to me is only 11 personal fouls. That says you're not putting you're hands on people and they're running free," Adelman said (via DNVR Sports). 

Adelman was particularly frustrated with the way that Nemhard and Flagg were able to move around the court and set up shots. Dallas hasn't been a great shooting team this season, just 25th in the NBA in field goal percentage and 28th in three-point percentage, but behind their two guards and Davis, they shot 55.8% from the field and 51.6% from three, draining 16 triples. 

"You can't allow Nembhard and Flagg to move around the court and do what they want like we did. And that comes down to physicality."

Spencer Jones Stood Out

While Adelman had overall disdain for the defensive effort his team put in, he did praise one player on the Denver roster: Spencer Jones. The Denver guard finished the game with 28 points and five rebounds. Adelman said he liked what Jones was doing with his shooting and that he would improve even more with reps at the NBA level after a successful stint in the G-League last season.

But beyond Jones' shooting and scoring, Adelman was impressed with the energy he brought defensively, something the head coach didn't see from most of the team.

"He was one of the few guys I would say really competed defensively on the ball, got into people physically. And that's what we need more of from the other guys."