Nuggets, Barton Halt Mavericks' Win Streak

DENVER (The Sports Xchange) - Nikola Jokic tormented the Dallas Mavericks in the first two games this season, but when foul trouble held him in check, Will Barton took over.

Barton scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Gary Harris had 20 points and the Denver Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-87 on Monday night.

Wilson Chandler had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Barton added two blocks and five assists to pick up the slack for Jokic, who played just 24 minutes because of foul trouble.

"Thrill Barton, man," Harris said. "He just gives us an energy."

Denver (23-28) was without Danilo Gallinari (groin), Emmanuel Mudiay (back) and Kenneth Faried (personal) but managed to stop Dallas' four-game winning streak. The Nuggets went with a three-guard lineup for much of the night to match up with the Mavericks' small-ball lineup.

Jokic averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds in the first two games with Dallas, but early foul trouble kept him on the sideline. He finished with 13 points and nine assists.

With him sitting for long stretches, Barton stepped up. He had 19 in the first half and five in the fourth quarter to help Denver pull away.

"With Gallo out, Mudiay out and Kenneth gone, I knew someone had to step it up and me and Gary did," Barton said.

The Mavericks (20-31) came into Monday having won six of their last seven. Their four-game winning streak came after Ferrell, an undrafted rookie, signed a 10-day contract. He had nine 3-pointers and 32 points in Friday's win at Portland, but Denver kept him in check for most of the game.

"We didn't attack this game as we should have, which is a playoff game," said Wesley Matthews, who had 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. "It was a bad one but we have another playoff game (Tuesday)."

Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell scored 15 points each and Dwight Powell had 14 off the bench for the Mavericks.

Dallas hasn't had too many bad games lately. After starting the season 3-15, the Mavericks have battled back to challenge for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They entered Monday trailing Denver by two games for that last playoff spot but scored their fewest points in the last month.

"The disposition wasn't where it needed to be," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "This is a tough place to play. They've got this poisonous air here, which makes it a little tougher. We knew all that; we've won here before. We just weren't ready to play in the beginning."

The Nuggets outscored the Mavericks 30-13 in the second quarter to take a 59-37 lead at the break. The 13 points were the fewest Denver has allowed in a quarter this season.

The lead grew to 27 in the third quarter, but Dallas rallied to within 15 at the end of the quarter and scored the first four points of the fourth to cut it to 82-71.

Harris scored the next five points for Denver, Barton converted a 3-pointer and Harris hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to make it 95-77 with 4:12 left.

"Will can play, there's no doubt about that, but we gave him a little bit too much," said Matthews, who played with Barton when both were with Portland. "He's a microwave; he sees one go in he can fill it up."

Dallas' 87 points were the fewest Denver has given up this season and they outrebounded the Mavericks 49-29.

"It was bad. They were just quicker to everything tonight," Carlisle said. "Getting beat by 20 on the boards is not going to get it done in this league on the road."

NOTES: Nuggets F Kenneth Faried missed the game because of personal reasons. ... Denver G Emmanuel Mudiay, who aggravated a back injury Saturday at San Antonio, did not play. ... Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said G Deron Williams could return "sometime soon." Williams missed his sixth game with a sprained left toe. ... F Danilo Gallinari, Denver's leading scorer, said he will miss approximately 10 more days with a left groin strain. He left the Wednesday loss to Memphis with the injury. ... Dallas G J.J. Barea (left calf strain) missed his seventh straight game and C Andrew Bogut (right hamstring strain) was out for his fourth consecutive game.