Luka Doncic’s “What did I just witness” reaction summed up what everyone was thinking.
Dallas and Denver had a playoff-level game on Sunday afternoon with Nikola Jokic doing Jokic things (16 points and 11 rebounds), Jamal Murray hitting a big 3 in the final 30 seconds to put Denver up by three, and then Doncic answering with a 3 of his own to cap off a 37-point game. Dallas got the final shot but defended it well, forcing Kyrie Irving into a 21-foot left-handed floater or hook shot over Jokic at the buzzer and... it’s the shot of the year.
OH MY GOODNESS, KYRIE IRVING WINS THE GAME WITH A LEFT-HANDED FLOATER ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2024
SPECIAL. 🤯#TissotBuzzerBeater#YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness pic.twitter.com/NJiVbYtV7p
As noted above, Doncic’s reaction sumps it up.
LUKA COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 17, 2024
UNBELIEVABLE. 🔥🔥🔥
pic.twitter.com/OCODEZiNL7 https://t.co/5P2yrJH4EG
Irving finished with 24 on the night plus nine assists. Dereck Lively II added 14 off the bench for Dallas, but this was a top-heavy night for their scoring. Give them credit to Dallas for sticking to a well-designed game plan as a team and attacking Denver the right ways.
The Nuggets can try to write this off as just one of those nights. Murray and Jokic combined to shoot 13-of-36 on the night (36.1%) and a good rebounding Nuggets team got outworked on the glass. Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 for the Nuggets while Aaron Gordon had 11.
With the win, the Mavericks move into a three-way tie with the Kings and Suns for the 6-8 seeds in the West (all of them are three games up on the Warriors and Lakers in the 9-10 spots). Every win matters for Dallas and beating Denver is a huge one. With the loss, the Nuggets slide half-a-game back of the Thunder (and still half a game ahead of Minnesota) in the race for the No. 1 seed in the West.