Kyrie Irving’s buzzer-beater lifts Mavericks past Nuggets
LUKA DONCIC scored 37 points and Kyrie Irving hit a left-handed floater at the buzzer as the host Dallas Mavericks withstood a fourth-quarter rally to beat Denver 107-105 on Sunday, snapping the Nuggets’ five-game winning streak.
Denver (47-21) rallied from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit and led 105-102 before Mr. Doncic’s 3-pointer tied the game with 25 seconds left. After Jamal Murray’s shot on Denver’s final possession came up short, Dallas (39-29) called timeout to set up Mr. Irving’s game winner.
Mr. Irving finished with 24 points and nine assists for Dallas, which recorded a season-high 22 offensive rebounds. Dereck Lively II had 14 points and eight rebounds, and P.J. Washington, Jr. grabbed 11 rebounds.
Mr. Murray scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Nuggets. Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points, Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, Aaron Gordon scored 11 points, and Christian Braun and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in 10 apiece.
Mr. Doncic returned after missing one game with left hamstring soreness and scored with 6:50 left in the contest to give the Mavericks a 98-85 lead.
Mr. Murray’s floater capped a 15-3 run and cut the deficit to 101-100 with 1:51 remaining. After Mr. Doncic made one of two free throws, Mr. Jokic scored on Denver’s next possession and Mr. Murray hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to put the Nuggets ahead 105-102. Dallas trailed 34-30 at the end of the first quarter despite outscoring the Nuggets 20-10 on points in the paint. Mr. Porter had 12 points in the period.
Mr. Doncic scored 23 points in the first half, including back-to-back 3-pointers that put Dallas ahead 46-44 with 6:30 left in the second quarter.
Mr. Jokic and Mr. Murray were a combined 4-of-18 shooting in the first half for Denver, which led 61-58 at intermission.
Dallas held an 84-79 advantage at the end of the third quarter after closing on a 19-9 run.
The Mavericks played without forward Josh Green, who is expected to miss multiple weeks due to a right ankle sprain suffered in Thursday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. — Reuters