Once the paint dried, the Nuggets started their first In-Season Tournament run Friday at Ball Arena.

During the morning shootaround, the Mavericks noticed the 3-point line on the bright blue and yellow court, a special addition to mark new In-Season Tournament, was a bit long.

“This morning’s 3-point line is different than it was when we came back this afternoon,” acting Mavericks coach Sean Sweeney said. “Hopefully, it’s the accurate line now.”

The new competition’s format groups teams in pools of five based on last season’s records. Joining Denver and Dallas in the Western Conference’s Group B are the Clippers, Pelicans and Rockets. Teams with the best group-stage records in each of the six pools will advance to a knockout round as will two wild cards. The wild cards will be determined by the teams with the best record that finished second in their groups. The semifinals and championship game will be played in Las Vegas.

“Anything that leads to a trip to Las Vegas, bunker mentality,” Sweeney, filling in for Jason Kidd who missed the game with an illness, joked pregame. “Ten toes on the ground.”

Nuggets coach Michael Malone was also in a joking mood ahead of his first In-Season Tournament game.

“Hopefully, it’s dry and we won’t have blue footprints all over the court,” Malone said.

Despite the colorful court and some new uniforms, Malone wanted his team to approach the game like it was any other game against a quality opponent. The Mavericks came to Denver with a 4-0 record to start the season. The Nuggets coach said most of his team’s conversations about the tournament came prior to the season.

“We haven’t spent a lot of time talking to our guys about ‘Hey man, you got to get up for an In-Season (Tournament) game.’ No,” Malone said. “We’ve got to get up for Dallas. It happens to coincide with it being an In-Season Tournament.”

The biggest difference other than the court was the margin of victory mattering. With each team playing just four group-stage games, point differential will be the second tiebreaker after head-to-head record. Malone said his FIBA experience with the Canadian national team was the only other time point differential came into play.

“We’ll keep that in the back of our minds, obviously. NBA players are not used to that,” Malone said. “There’s an unwritten rule about respecting the game, respecting your opponent, but at the same time, this is going to help us advance. You have to use everything at your advantage.”

With the fresh paint dry for tipoff, the Nuggets took advantage of the updated 3-point line. The Nuggets started 9 of 16 from deep, creating a 15-point halftime advantage on their freshly painted court.

“The NBA is trying to do everything they can to kind of get this inaugural In-Season Tournament off to an exciting start,” Malone said.

NUGGETS 125, MAVERICKS 114 

What happened: Dallas in undefeated no longer.

The Nuggets made six of their first seven 3-pointers and led by 16 after the first quarter. Another 3 from Nikola Jokic just before the second-quarter buzzer gave the Nuggets a 70-55 lead at halftime. Denver stretched the lead to as many as 20 in the third quarter and took a 15-point advantage to the fourth. The Mavericks closed within nine early in the fourth, but the hosts held on for the win in their In-Season Tournament opener.

What went right: Denver’s defense wasn’t able to make it tough on Luka Doncic the whole night, but the Nuggets did a solid job in the first two quarters. Doncic committed six turnovers in the first half and made 4 of his 9 shots. The Nuggets used a handful of different defenders on one of the game’s best offensive talents, but Michael Porter Jr. did a lot of the work.

What went wrong: Turnovers prevented an even better offensive night for the Nuggets. The Nuggets committed seven of their 17 turnovers in the first quarter. Those turnovers led to 25 of the Mavericks’ points. Jokic and Aaron Gordon both turned it over four times, while Reggie Jackson was responsible for three.

Highlight of the night: Aaron Gordon got above the rim for a couple of his signature dunks, including an alley-oop from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the first half, but his best play came under the rim. Midway through the third quarter, Gordon cut baseline and caught a pass from Nikola Jokic. Gordon left his feet on the left side of the hoop, hung in the air just long enough to get to the other side of the hoop and spun a layup high off the glass, giving the Nuggets a 19-point lead.

Up next: The Nuggets play the second end of a back-to-back when the Chicago Bulls come to Denver on Saturday.