Kyrie Irving's buzzer beating, left handed floater gave the Dallas Mavericks the win over the Denver Nuggets in emphatic fashion.

Irving produced an incredible performance and dropped a near double double with 24 points, nine assists along with seven rebounds. As well as the second buzzer beater of his career.

The Mavericks' star man Luka Doncic made some incredible shots down the stretch and dropped a stunning 37 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the statement win.

Nikola Jokic had a quiet evening for his standards but still produced a 16 point, 11 rebound double double while Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. both had 20+ point showings.

  • Story of the game

After three minutes, Irving drilled a three from the top of the key and on the next possession, stole the ball and threw it up for a Derrick Jones Jr. slam.

Halfway through the first quarter, Aaron Gordon span away from his defender in the post and threw it down with force to give Denver a 14-12 lead.

With four minutes on the clock Porter Jr. produced a highlight play, throwing down a huge dunk as Denver led by five.

At the close of the opening quarter, Doncic drove to the basket and layed it in to cut the Nuggets' lead to four.

<strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en-us/nba/2024/02/15/1172605-an-further-alteration-to-the-nba-all-star-game-why-now-is-most-likely-the-ideal-time.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en-us/nba/2024/02/15/1172605-an-further-alteration-to-the-nba-all-star-game-why-now-is-most-likely-the-ideal-time.html'>Luka Doncic</a></strong> handles the ball against Denver (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Luka Doncic handles the ball against Denver (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

In the opening moments of the second, Daniel Gafford blocked an attempt on the defensive end and on the other side of the floor, Jamal Murray returned the favour, denying Gafford at the rim.

Doncic began to heat up half way through the second and made back to back step back three pointers to put Dallas up by two.

With a minute on the clock Jokic connected with his partner in crime Gordon, who slammed down a reverse dunk to give Denver a slight advantage.

Doncic responded with two free throws but Murray's three point play was enough to give the Nuggets a three point cushion heading into the interval with the score reading 61-58.

<strong><a  data-cke-saved-href='https://www.vavel.com/en-us/nba/2024/02/29/1174344-thenba-championship-whos-taking-home-the-ring.html' href='https://www.vavel.com/en-us/nba/2024/02/29/1174344-thenba-championship-whos-taking-home-the-ring.html'>Jamal Murray</a></strong> is challenged at the bucket by the Dallas defence (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Jamal Murray is challenged at the bucket by the Dallas defence (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

The two teams continued to battle and show their physicality in the early stages of the second half.

Porter Jr. found Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wide open in the corner and the veteran guard drilled the three for a Denver five point lead after four minutes in the third.

Dallas responded with a 9-0 run as Daniel Gafford cut to the basket and converted a tough finish at the rack.

With Doncic in the locker room, Irving stepped up and nailed a three with two minutes remaining in the penultimate quarter.

Kyrie Irving enjoying a hot third quarter for Dallas (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Kyrie Irving enjoying a hot third quarter for Dallas (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

The Kyrie magic continued as he scored his tenth points of the quarter with a tough contested finish at the rim to give the Mavericks a five point advantage heading into the final 12.

Jason Kidd's Mavericks claimed their largest lead of the game of 11 points through Gafford's finish following several offensive rebounds.

Rebounding the ball on the offensive end and dominating the paint was huge to Dallas' success in the second half.

Irving converted yet another deep three in the opening minutes, Murray responded with a difficult turnaround jump shot with the score reading 85-91.

Kyrie Irving pulling up for a mid range jump shot (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Kyrie Irving pulling up for a mid range jump shot (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

Doncic sent the Dallas crowd crazy with a fast break layup which took his side 13 points up over one of the best in the west with six minutes on the clock.

Three minutes later, Caldwell-Pope's pull up jumper made it a three point game as Denver enjoyed a 13-3 run.

With 27 seconds on the clock, Murray used the screen and shot a triple which dropped through the nylon to give his team a three point lead

Straight out of the timeout, Doncic drained a three pointer from way down town to tie game and Dallas took another timeout with three seconds to go.

Luka Doncic handles the ball (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Luka Doncic handles the ball (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

In the dying embers of the game, Irving produced a ridiculous finish, scooping the ball up high with his left hand and in to give Dallas a massive win.

Next up for the reigning champions is a trip to fellow Western Conference high flyers in Minnesota while Dallas face the Spurs in San Antonio.