NBA: Kyrie Irving hits buzzer beater in Dallas Mavericks win, Victor Wembanyama dazzles against Brooklyn Nets

An outrageous left hook from Kyrie Irving over Nikola Jokic at the buzzer sealed a dramatic 107-105 win for the Dallas Mavericks over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night in the NBA.

Having dominated the game on a rare off-night for Jokic (just 16 points with no 3-pointers) the Mavs suddenly found themselves down by three after a triple from Jamal Murray with 27.1 left to play.

After Luka Doncic tied things up, and then Murray missed a pull-up to win it, the Mavs had a chance to seal the victory off an inbounds play.

Forward Maxi Kleber spotted that Irving had space and he found his star guard, who turned and as he ran back towards the top of the paint hooked a shot with his left hand, which sailed in for the winner, sparking wild celebration scenes.

It was the second-longest hook shot of this NBA season, clocked at 20.1 feet. Ironically the longest shot of the season also belongs to Irving, coming against the Portland Trail Blazers at the start of 2024. Irving admitted that particular shot had been an accident – but this was far from it.

“Man, majority of it is instinctual and comes from preparation for hours that no one sees,” Irving said after the game.

“I saw Jokic taking away my pull-up going left. I knew that he was going to come up, but I didn’t know he was going to commit like that, so he was forcing me inside the 3-point line.

“As soon as I felt him kind of behind me, I was like, ‘oh, I have my left hand’. It’s wide open, so why not go to it?

“I thought I got a little closer in the paint, but I looked at it after the game and I was pretty far out.”

The shot left team-mates in awe, including perennial MVP candidate Doncic.

“That shot was unbelievable, man,” said Doncic. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Kleber added: “He’s very talented and gifted [with] both hands and he does crazy plays like that, so that’s just what he does.

“But it’s still an unbelievable shot, so obviously you’ve going to be a little bit in shock once it goes in.”

Meanwhile center Daniel Gafford called Irving “a magician”, saying: “He is a very crafty finisher, but finishing somewhere that far around the basket?

“I don’t know if he works on something like that, but I know he works on his left hand. It went in and then we just got crazy.”

Even Nuggets coach Mike Malone had to admit he was wowed by what he had seen.

“Hell of a shot by Kyrie,” Malone said. “Give him all the credit.”

Irving ended with 24 points on 9-23 shooting. Doncic had 37 on his return after missing Thursday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with hamstring soreness.

Elsewhere, Victor Wembanyama put on a show as the San Antonio Spurs triumphed 122-115 over the Brooklyn Nets in Austin.

The French phenom notched 33 points to go along with 15 rebounds, seven blocks and seven assists.

In doing so he became just the fourth player in NBA history since the 1973-74 season (when blocks became an official stat) to finish a game with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds, seven blocks and seven assists.

“It’s just that moment it finally paid off, our efforts of the game,” Wembanyama said after the game. “I mean, the efforts, hitting guys on screens, rolling hard and being aggressive and making shots for Dev [Devin Vassell]. They had to make a choice. Dev made the perfect read, and it just shows all progress.”

The game being played at the Moody Center, around 80 miles away from the team’s regular home of the Frost Bank Center, is nothing new for the Spurs, have played games in Austin for the past few seasons.

However, it is expected that they will be chosen alongside the Indiana Pacers to play in the Paris game next year, given that Wembanyama was born in the French capital.

He admitted that he would be thrilled to get a chance to play in his home city.

“I’m looking forward to it very much,” Wembanyama said. “Obviously it’s going to be probably the game or the games that are going to be very important for me because of course it’s me coming back from where I come from, especially might be in my city or around the city.

“So it’s going to be very special. Also, it is going to allow me to see maybe my family in the middle of the season, which doesn’t happen often. So it’s great.”