Jamal Murray scored 33 points and the Denver Nuggets held on for a 118-109 victory over Dallas. The Mavericks were without Cooper Flagg for the second half after the rookie No. 1 overall pick sprained his left ankle.

One of those players was former NBA-All Defense honoree and champion with the Boston Celtics, Tony Allen, who compared Flagg to Brent Barry and Andrei Kirilenko but admitted he underestimated the Maine native.

The Mavericks have asked Flagg to do everything — including playing point guard — because of poor roster construction and injuries.

Cooper Flagg's rise from youth phenom to No. 1 overall draft pick to Mavericks' biggest weapon has been guided by the same man.

In 1994, the Mavericks secured the services of Jason Kidd with the second pick of the draft because they were really bad. Last summer, the Mavericks landed Cooper Flagg with the first pick because they were really lucky. But are they now headed into the land of the really bad?

The Dallas Mavericks have some huge stars on their roster, but the dark cloud that began over the franchise when Luka Dončić was traded away continues to hover. Kyrie Irving is still sidelined with injury,