Nuggets defeat Mavericks in unbelievable display of shot-making

What a game.

The Denver Nuggets got their fifth-straight win on Sunday, defeating the Dallas Mavericks, 122-120, in a wild display of shot-making. Kyrie Irving finished with 43 points for the Mavericks, and Nikola Jokić put up a stat line that’s never been achieved before in NBA history: 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists.

“We’re all running out of words, adjectives, and ways to describe his greatness and his impact. I think the simple way to say it is he’s the best player in the world,” head coach Michael Malone said about Jokić. “That’s the best way you can say it, in my opinion.”

However, it was Michael Porter Jr. who hit the biggest shot of the game, a floater with 6 seconds remaining on the clock. He finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Peyton Watson also had a great night by tallying 16 points and 5 rebounds. He tied his career-high with 4 made three-pointers. Speaking of threes, the Nuggets collectively made 48.3 percent of their 29 total shots from deep.

Porter Jr. could not be stopped in the first quarter and scored 13 points in the period alone. That helped the Nuggets build a 10-point lead. Dallas responded with some tough shot-making from Irving. In the end, it was Dallas who finished the first half ahead, 63-60.

Irving continued his fiery shot-making in the second half and nailed two deep three-pointers to open the fourth quarter. The Nuggets stayed in the game when Jamal Murray hit a pair of tough midrange jumpers. It was Dallas’ turn to make their move, and Irving nailed a midrange shot from triple-threat positioning after zero dribbles. He then followed that up by nailing an unbelievable spinning jump shot off the glass against a great contest from Watson. That gave Dallas a two-point lead.

The Nuggets dumped the ball to Jokić in the post, and he got to work against Daniel Gafford with a series of spin moves and a successful hook shot. Tie game. Watson got the stop on Irving and blocked his three-point shot, and it was Denver’s ball with 29 seconds remaining. Denver went to its two-man game between Jokić and Murray, Murray found Porter Jr. with a pass, and MPJ drove to the basket and elevated for the floater.

Denver got the stop on the other end to secure their fifth-straight win.