The Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets entered Friday night's game with a 1-1 NBA Cup record and looking to take control of the Wild Card in the Western Conference. Denver got big news with Nikola Jokic returning to the lineup after missing the last three games, while the Mavs were without Luka Doncic.

Nikola Jokic’s return made for outstanding theater in the NBA Cup, but the return of his alien stat lines was not enough for Denver. In his first game back after welcoming a newborn son this week, Jokic tallied 33 points,

Nikola Jokic received an important update ahead of the Nuggets' NBA Cup game on Friday night against the Mavericks.