Michael Porter Jr. hits winning jumper in the final seconds and Denver beats Dallas 122-120
DENVER (AP) Michael Porter Jr. hit a mid-range jumper with seven seconds left and the Denver Nuggets won their fifth straight, 122-120 over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night.
Nikola Jokic had 37 points, 18 rebounds and 15 assists for his fourth straight triple-double and his NBA-best sixth this season. Jamal Murray had 18 points and Porter finished with 17.
Kyrie Irving had a season-high 43 points for Dallas. Luka Doncic added 24 points and Daniel Gafford had 16.
Trailing by three going into the final period, Dallas got three 3-pointers in a row from Irving to take a 105-102 lead with 8:46 left to play. The teams kept trading shots to keep it close the rest of the way. Irving’s bank shot gave Dallas a 120-118 lead with 1:39 left but Jokic then had a tying tip-in and ahead of Porter’s winning shot. Irving missed a 3-point try at the buzzer.
Down by 10 midway through the first quarter, Dallas outscored Denver by nine points in the second period and led 63-60 at halftime.
Mavericks: Irving and Doncic spearheaded the Mavericks’ strong offensive play which just came up short.
Nuggets: Sparked their offense with effective 3-point shooting, making 14 of their 29 attempts (48.3 percent). Peyton Watson was 4 of 4 from 3-point range.
Dallas, already without injured P.J. Washington (knee), Dereck Lively II (shoulder) and Dante Exum (wrist), feared Doncic would be held out with a left groin strain. But he showcased his mobility and shooting in warmups and was cleared to play.
The starting five for both teams all scored in double figures.
Mavericks: Klay Thompson, who joined Dallas last summer as part of an offseason trade with Golden State and four other teams, faces his former team on Tuesday night.
Nuggets: Begin a three-game road trip Friday night in New Orleans.
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| Time | Team | Play | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 |  | Daniel Gafford vs. Nikola Jokic (Peyton Watson gains possession) | ||
| 11:46 | | +2 | Jamal Murray makes two point driving floating jump shot (Nikola Jokic assists) | 0-2 |
| 11:46 |  | Kyrie Irving shooting foul (Jamal Murray draws the foul) | ||
| 11:46 | | +1 | Jamal Murray makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 0-3 |
| 11:36 | | Christian Braun shooting foul (Luka Doncic draws the foul) | ||
| 11:36 | | +1 | Luka Doncic makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 1-3 |
| 11:36 | | Luka Doncic misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | ||
| 11:34 | | Nikola Jokic defensive rebound | ||
| 11:22 | | +3 | Michael Porter Jr. makes three point jump shot (Jamal Murray assists) | 1-6 |
| 10:56 | | +2 | Klay Thompson makes two point driving reverse layup (Luka Doncic assists) | 3-6 |
| 10:36 | | Jamal Murray misses three point stepback jump shot | ||
| 10:33 | | Daniel Gafford defensive rebound | ||
| 10:21 | | Klay Thompson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 10:18 | | Nikola Jokic defensive rebound | ||
| 10:09 | | +2 | Michael Porter Jr. makes two point pullup jump shot (Nikola Jokic assists) | 3-8 |
| 9:52 | | Kyrie Irving misses two point driving floating jump shot | ||
| 9:51 | | Daniel Gafford offensive rebound | ||
| 9:49 | | Klay Thompson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 9:49 | | Michael Porter Jr. defensive rebound | ||
| 9:43 | | Luka Doncic blocks Christian Braun's two point running layup | ||
| 9:40 | | Christian Braun offensive rebound | ||
| 9:39 | | Daniel Gafford shooting foul (Michael Porter Jr. draws the foul) | ||
| 9:39 | | Michael Porter Jr. misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | ||
| 9:39 | | Nuggets offensive rebound | ||
| 9:39 | | +1 | Michael Porter Jr. makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 3-9 |
| 9:28 | | Klay Thompson turnover (lost ball) (Michael Porter Jr. steals) | ||
| 9:23 | | +2 | Christian Braun makes two point running finger roll layup (Michael Porter Jr. assists) | 3-11 |
| 9:10 | | +2 | Daniel Gafford makes two point cutting dunk (Klay Thompson assists) | 5-11 |
| 8:53 | | Michael Porter Jr. misses three point jump shot | ||
| 8:49 | | Kyrie Irving defensive rebound | ||
| 8:43 | | +2 | Kyrie Irving makes two point stepback jump shot | 7-11 |
| 8:25 | | +2 | Jamal Murray makes two point driving floating jump shot (Nikola Jokic assists) | 7-13 |
| 8:10 | | Luka Doncic misses three point stepback jump shot | ||
| 8:08 | | Michael Porter Jr. defensive rebound | ||
| 7:53 | | +3 | Peyton Watson makes three point jump shot (Nikola Jokic assists) | 7-16 |
| 7:34 | | +2 | Klay Thompson makes two point stepback jump shot (Kyrie Irving assists) | 9-16 |
| 7:19 | | Jamal Murray misses two point driving layup | ||
| 7:14 | | Nikola Jokic offensive rebound | ||
| 7:14 | | Nikola Jokic misses two point putback layup | ||
| 7:13 | | Luka Doncic defensive rebound | ||
| 7:07 | | Kyrie Irving misses two point running layup | ||
| 7:04 | | Luka Doncic offensive rebound | ||
| 7:04 | | +2 | Luka Doncic makes two point tip layup | 11-16 |
| 6:57 | | Daniel Gafford blocks Nikola Jokic's two point layup | ||
| 6:57 | | Kyrie Irving defensive rebound | ||
| 6:50 | | +2 | Daniel Gafford makes two point running dunk (Kyrie Irving assists) | 13-16 |
| 6:38 | | Nuggets 60 second timeout | ||
| 6:32 | | +3 | Nikola Jokic makes three point jump shot (Christian Braun assists) | 13-19 |
| 6:16 | | Jamal Murray shooting foul (Dwight Powell draws the foul) | ||
| 6:16 | | +1 | Dwight Powell makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 14-19 |
| 6:16 | | Dwight Powell misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | ||
| 6:14 | | Michael Porter Jr. defensive rebound | ||
| 5:54 | | +3 | Michael Porter Jr. makes three point stepback jump shot | 14-22 |
| 5:32 | | +2 | Luka Doncic makes two point fadeaway jump shot | 16-22 |
| 5:25 | | Dwight Powell kicked ball violation | ||
| 5:20 | | +2 | Michael Porter Jr. makes two point stepback jump shot (Peyton Watson assists) | 16-24 |
| 4:55 | | Klay Thompson misses two point fadeaway jump shot | ||
| 4:53 | | Michael Porter Jr. defensive rebound | ||
| 4:46 | | +2 | Peyton Watson makes two point layup (Nikola Jokic assists) | 16-26 |
| 4:31 | | +3 | Kyrie Irving makes three point jump shot (Spencer Dinwiddie assists) | 19-26 |
| 4:15 | | Olivier-Maxence Prosper shooting foul (Michael Porter Jr. draws the foul) | ||
| 4:15 | | +1 | Michael Porter Jr. makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 19-27 |
| 4:15 | | +1 | Michael Porter Jr. makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 19-28 |
| 4:03 | | +2 | Spencer Dinwiddie makes two point pullup jump shot | 21-28 |
| 3:48 | | +2 | Julian Strawther makes two point reverse layup (Nikola Jokic assists) | 21-30 |
| 3:40 | | Jaden Hardy misses three point pullup jump shot | ||
| 3:37 | | Christian Braun defensive rebound | ||
| 3:24 | | Nikola Jokic turnover (traveling) | ||
| 3:11 | | +2 | Kyrie Irving makes two point pullup jump shot | 23-30 |
| 2:59 | | Christian Braun misses three point jump shot | ||
| 2:56 | | Dwight Powell defensive rebound | ||
| 2:51 | | Kyrie Irving turnover (lost ball) (Nikola Jokic steals) | ||
| 2:43 | | +2 | Nikola Jokic makes two point running layup (Russell Westbrook assists) | 23-32 |
| 2:42 | | Mavericks 60 second timeout | ||
| 2:31 | | Luka Doncic misses two point fadeaway jump shot | ||
| 2:28 | | Christian Braun defensive rebound | ||
| 2:17 | | Nikola Jokic turnover (lost ball) (Daniel Gafford steals) | ||
| 2:17 | | Nikola Jokic personal foul (Daniel Gafford draws the foul) | ||
| 2:04 | | +2 | Jaden Hardy makes two point driving dunk (Spencer Dinwiddie assists) | 25-32 |
| 1:43 | | Russell Westbrook misses two point driving finger roll layup | ||
| 1:39 | | Nikola Jokic offensive rebound | ||
| 1:39 | | +2 | Nikola Jokic makes two point tip layup | 25-34 |
| 1:18 | | +2 | Daniel Gafford makes two point layup (Luka Doncic assists) | 27-34 |
| 1:06 | | Julian Strawther misses three point jump shot | ||
| 1:04 | | Luka Doncic defensive rebound | ||
| 1:00 | | Luka Doncic turnover (bad pass) (Julian Strawther steals) | ||
| 0:54 | | Christian Braun turnover (bad pass) (Naji Marshall steals) | ||
| 0:47 | | Naji Marshall misses two point running layup | ||
| 0:46 | | Peyton Watson defensive rebound | ||
| 0:41 | | Jaden Hardy shooting foul (Christian Braun draws the foul) | ||
| 0:41 | | Christian Braun misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | ||
| 0:41 | | Nuggets offensive rebound | ||
| 0:41 | | +1 | Christian Braun makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 27-35 |
| 0:34 | | Luka Doncic misses three point pullup jump shot | ||
| 0:32 | | Naji Marshall offensive rebound | ||
| 0:32 | | +2 | Naji Marshall makes two point tip layup | 29-35 |
| 0:16 | | Naji Marshall blocks Nikola Jokic's two point layup | ||
| 0:13 | | Nikola Jokic offensive rebound | ||
| 0:11 | | Peyton Watson misses two point driving floating jump shot | ||
| 0:07 | | Mavericks defensive rebound | ||
| 0:01 | | Jaden Hardy misses three point jump shot | ||
| 0:00 | | Jamal Murray defensive rebound | ||
| 0:00 | | End of period |