Kyrie Irving called the game Sunday afternoon.
Irving hit a wild left-handed floater from the free throw line at the buzzer to lift the Dallas Mavericks to a 107-105 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Naturally, this prompted a huge celebration at the American Airlines Center.
“Hell of a shot Kyrie. Give him all the credit,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. . “Yeah, if a guy's going to hit us, left-hand from the elbow, off-hand hook shot, yeah I did. [like our defense].”
The bucket came after Mavericks star Luka Doncic tied the game with a deep 3-pointer from behind the arc in the middle of the floor.
The Mavericks were right with the Nuggets for most of the game, but they pulled ahead briefly in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets finally took the lead with less than 30 seconds left, a huge 14-2 run, eight of which belonged to Jamaal Murray. However, Doncic hit his deep 3-pointer to tie the game. Then, after Murray missed a 14-footer at the other end, Irving hit his shot to put the Mavericks up by two points.
Murray led the Nuggets with 23 points and seven assists. Michael Porter Jr. finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, and Nikola Jokic added 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. The Nuggets have won five in a row going into Sunday's game and now have a 47-21 record.
Doncic led the Mavericks in the win with 37 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Irving finished with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Derek Lively II was the only player to score in double figures, adding 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Mavericks have won five of their last six games and are now 39-29. That's seventh in the Western Conference standings, behind the Sacramento Kings.
