The Dallas Mavericks (10 - 7) defeated the Denver Nuggets (6 - 11) 92 - 81 thanks to a horrible third quarter by Denver. The Mavericks and Nuggets were in a tightly - contested battle at halftime, but something drastic happened to alter the result. The Nuggets did n't show up in the third quarter and they put up some mind boggling stats. Denver started the quarter going 0 - for - 14 with six turnovers and failed to score in the first nine minutes. That started a 160 run for Dallas and they never looked back after that. The turnovers were a problem as well, as Dallas won that battle 20 - 13. A five - point third quarter proved to be the difference in a frustrating loss for the Nuggets. Scoring 29 points in the second half simply wo n't get it done in the NBA and that's just what the Nuggets did. The team was led by Darrell Arthur, who tallied 16 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in the defeat. Kenneth Faried did make his return after a three - game absence due to an ankle injury, but played just 14 minutes. Denver has now scored 161 points over their last two games and this is obviously not the potent up - tempo Denver offense of the past. They'll look to get out of this six - game skid when they play another struggling team in the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday. Dallas played some fantastic defense en route to an impressive win on Saturday. The surprise start for Dallas has to be credited to Zaza Pachulia, who put in yet another great game. Pachulia collected 16 points, 12 rebounds and three steals to pick up his 10th double - double of the season. Deron Williams also had a nice game, as he amassed 22 points, four assists and four rebounds in the win. The Mavericks had 13 steals in the game and they forced the Nuggets into bad shots time after time. This is n't the prettiest team in the NBA, but they're certainly dangerous and a threat in the West. Dallas will play the Sacramento Kings on Monday in their next scheduled game.
["PlayerStat(G,'Darrell Arthur') has 2 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 3 Defensive rebounds ,has 16 Free throws attempted ,has 5 Minutes played ,has 2 Offensive rebounds ,has 3 Personal fouls ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kenneth Faried') has 3 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 14 Defensive rebounds ,has 3 Free throws attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Zaza Pachulia') has 16 Assists ,has 12 Blocks ,has 3 Defensive rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Deron Williams') has 4 Assists ,has 22 Blocks ,has 4 Defensive rebounds ."]