The Dallas Mavericks had so much fun playing the visiting Denver Nuggets on Friday night that they are happy to do it again on Sunday.

Dallas cruised to a 28-point win in the first of two games in three days with Denver, but it comes with a bit of an asterisk. The Nuggets played without three starters, including two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, and it showed against the Mavericks.

Luka Doncic notched his fourth triple-double of the season (33 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) and the 50th of his career after sitting out a game for rest, and it looked easy for him and his teammates. Dallas led by as many as 31 against a short-handed Denver squad.

“It’s great. It feels amazing,” Doncic said. “It’s a pleasure. I’m just really glad that I’m here and doing this.”

It doesn’t look like the Nuggets will have Jokic back for the rematch. Coach Michael Malone said Friday night Jokic will remain in health and safety protocols for the third straight game, as will Jamal Murray, who missed Friday’s game.

In addition to Michael Porter Jr., the only other starter with a chance to play is Aaron Gordon, who has missed the past two games with a non-COVID illness.

“I’m going to go home and pray the rosary tonight that we can get some help,” Malone said after the loss.

Denver had no success in stopping Doncic and little in containing Christian Wood, who scored 28 points in the 127-99 win.

“I think he’s comfortable. I think that you can see that he’s comfortable playing his role,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said of Wood. “He’s doing a great job for us on both ends, offense and defense. Just understanding that we’re trying to get the ball offensively because he is a talent.

“The nice part about that is he’s really unselfish and he’s looking to make the right play — and he’s doing that for a high level for us right now, and we need that.”

The Nuggets need someone to step up if they’re going to flip the script Sunday night. Porter has struggled in the two games Jokic has missed, scoring a total of 15 points and shooting a combined 5-for-23 from the field.

The previous game, a win at Chicago last Sunday, Porter scored 31 points.

“I think it also speaks to the value and greatness of Nikola, how he gets guys so many easy looks because one, he attracts so much attention and he’s a great and willing passer,” Malone said. “While Nikola is not here, we have to find ways to try to get Michael some easy ones, and I think Michael’s got to help himself at the same time.

“We need Michael.”

Jokic, Gordon and Murray weren’t the only ones sidelined. Ish Smith has missed the last two games with a right calf strain, further depleting the bench. It did give Vlatko Cancar a chance for some minutes, and he logged 23 while scoring eight points.

Bones Hyland was the only reserve to score in double figures. He finished with 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting and was 3-for-11 from 3-point range.

–Field Level Media

Fresh off snapping a five-game losing skid, the Cleveland Cavaliers continue a four-game homestand on Sunday when they welcome the visiting Miami Heat.

Miami continues a four-game road trip with Sunday’s contest, coming in having dropped its first two decisions at Toronto and Washington.

Friday’s 107-106 overtime loss against the Wizards exposed the Heat’s struggles with depth. Just seven players dressed, six of whom logged more than 30 minutes.

As Friday’s contest wore on, the Miami offense sputtered with a pair of second-half quarters scoring fewer than 20 points, followed by only two points in overtime.

“I really wish I could have told something better to my locker room, because I’m really proud of that effort tonight.” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in his postgame press conference.

Kyle Lowry recorded a triple-double with 24 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, while Max Strus added 22 points — but shot just 3-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc.

The last of Strus’ misses came out of a timeout on the game’s final possession.

“I disappeared in the second half and we had a lot of guys step up and play hard, give us great minutes,” Strus told the Sun-Sentinel. “We should have won the game. I’ll take that one and move on from it.”

Miami faces Cleveland still facing numerous roster questions. Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, both of whom sat on Friday, are listed as day-to-day with knee injuries.

Butler leads the Heat at 20.9 points per game, while Adebayo is averaging 19.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Tyler Herro, averaging 19.6 points and 2.4 made 3-pointers a contest, missed the Washington game with an ankle injury.

Duncan Robinson, Dewayne Dedmon and Gabe Vincent are also all listed as day-to-day.

Cleveland, meanwhile, opened its four-game homestand on Friday with a 132-122, double-overtime defeat of Charlotte. The win was the Cavaliers’ first since Nov. 6 when they concluded an eight-game winning streak.

The Hornets very nearly extended Cleveland’s losing skid, rallying from a 16-point second-half deficit to force extra frames.

“We let our guard down,” Darius Garland said in his postgame press conference, following a 41-point performance. “We thought the game was over. We was up by like 12 and that’s when they started making shots. Bad communication from some of us with the switches and screens and stuff like that. We have to be better at the defensive end of just communicating.”

Garland’s 41 points came less than a week after he finished with 51 points in a Nov. 13 loss to Minnesota. The 51-point outpouring set the NBA’s single-game scoring-high — for about an hour, anyway. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid scored 59 points the same night.

Donovan Mitchell added 34 points in the win on Friday. Mitchell is one of just five players in the league averaging north of 31 points per game with at least 11 games played.

While the backcourt duo paced the offense, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff praised the total-team effort — particularly in the overtimes.

“Everybody who was on the floor made a play,” Bickerstaff said in his postgame press conference. “It was shots, it was stops, it was rebounds, assists. I just thought that there was a will and a determination.”

–Field Level Media

The Cleveland Cavaliers say forward Kevin Love is day-to-day with a hairline fracture of his right thumb.

The team announced Saturday that Love is doubtful for Sunday’s contest against the visiting Miami Heat.

He got hurt in the third quarter of Friday night’s 133-122 double-overtime home win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Love, 34, is averaging 11.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 15 games (one start) in his 15th NBA season.

The five-time All-Star has career clips of 17.5 points, 10.6 boards and 2.4 assists in 827 games (660 starts) with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2008-14) and Cavaliers.

–Field Level Media

Kyrie Irving’s last appearance with the Brooklyn Nets occurred on Nov. 1 as controversy swirled around the team.

His next appearance is likely Sunday night when the Nets return home from a four-game road trip to face the Memphis Grizzlies, who will be without star Ja Morant.

Irving is expected to return after sitting out Brooklyn’s past eight games. His last game was a four-point performance when the Nets folded in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls in Jacque Vaughn’s head coaching debut after taking over from Steve Nash.

“It’s exciting for everybody. I mean we miss Ky. We miss his presence on the floor,” Brooklyn star Kevin Durant said. “I haven’t talked to him since we’ve been on the road trip about it, the last couple of days. But we’re looking forward to his return to the team. Definitely going to give us a much needed spark.”

Irving was the focal point of controversy for posting a link to an anti-Semitic film on Oct. 27, and was handed at least a five-game suspension when he did not apologize following a contentious media session at practice on Nov. 3.

When the Nets suspended him, they stipulated Irving must complete several steps, including meeting with commissioner Adam Silver. They met last week, and Silver said he did not think Irving held anti-Semitic beliefs.

Since Irving’s last appearance, the Nets are 5-3 and — even with allowing 153 points Tuesday at Sacramento — they are defending better recently.

Through Nov. 1, the Nets were allowing 118.8 points, 47.0 percent shooting and 41.2 percent from 3-point range. Since then, Brooklyn is allowing 104 points, 42.3 percent shooting and 35.8 percent from behind the arc.

Brooklyn returns after splitting a four-game West Coast trip. The Nets ended the trek by rallying from an 11-point deficit when Royce O’Neale capped his first career triple-double by tipping in the miss of a Durant jumper with seven-tenths of a second remaining in a 109-107 win Thursday.

Durant scored 35 points and has scored at least 25 in each game. He is the first player with such a streak since Michael Jordan did it in 16 straight to start 1988-89. The last player to achieve the feat in 17 straight was Rick Barry for the first 25 games of the 1966-67 season for the San Francisco Warriors.

Memphis snapped its second losing streak of the season by earning a 121-110 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday when Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 25 in his second game back from right foot surgery.

Morant scored 19 before exiting late in the fourth quarter with a tweaked ankle. The star guard was diagnosed Saturday with a Grade 1 left ankle sprain and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

Tyus Jones will likely get the start as the Grizzlies have yet to play a game with their expected starting five of Morant, Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Jackson and center Steven Adams.

“It is frustrating, but it’s part of the game,” Brooks said. “Been through it. We still got guys ready to play, ready to be active, ready to have their shot. It’s a tough one, but at the same time, though, next man up.”

–Field Level Media

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was diagnosed with a Grade 1 left ankle sprain Saturday and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

Morant left Friday night’s victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder with an ankle injury after posting 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in 32 minutes.

A first-time All-Star last season, Morant is averaging 28.6 points, 7.1 assists and 6.2 rebounds this season.

Morant, 23, has career averages of 21.7 points, 7.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds in 201 games. He is in his fourth NBA season.

The injury comes at a time in which Memphis is also without standout shooting guard Desmond Bane due to a sprained right big toe. Bane, averaging 24.7 points, is slated to be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.

–Field Level Media