DENVER – Sometimes, you can do a lot of things right, get a massive offensive outburst from Kyrie Irving and it still isn’t enough.
The Mavericks learned that lesson Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets.
Nikola Jokic countered Irving’s sizzling showing with a gargantuan effort of his own and the Nuggets got a clutch 14-foot floating jump shot from Michael Porter Jr. with 6.1 seconds left to steal a 122-120 victory over the Mavericks at Ball Arena.
The Mavericks had a strong, upgraded display of energy, effort and passion that coach Jason Kidd had said was in short supply in a few recent games.
But it was Jokic who could smile in the end as he rolled up 37 points, 18 rebounds and 15 assists, then stepped aside as Porter sank the game-winner.
The Mavericks fell to 5-5 and now have lost consecutive games for the first time this season after they were upended at home on Friday by Phoenix.
Irving poured in a season-best 43 points and had four three-pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Mavericks a great chance to pull out the win. But the Nuggets (7-3) scored the final four points. And Porter’s clincher left the Mavericks disheartened.
“It’s an empty performance,” Irving said. “It feels good to get some shots go in and play an efficient game offensively. But at the end of the day, that close out to Michael Porter . . . I ran him off the three-point line, but he just got in the lane and hit a nice floater.
“We battled. We just got to take our licks and keep learning. We had this one in the bag. We were going against a great team. They kept running the same play over and over. You just got to live with the results. We just couldn’t keep them off of the boards a few times down the stretch.”
The Mavericks were up 120-118 when Irving banked in a shot with 1:40 to play.
But Jokic tipped in a miss and after Peyton Watson blocked Irving, the ball found its way to Porter, who penetrated and dropped in his shot.
The Mavericks got the ball to Irving who launched a three-pointer that missed and a tip try by Daniel Gafford also was off the mark.
“We gave effort,” Kidd said. “The energy and effort were high for four quarters. Give them credit. They kept fighting, they made plays down the stretch and the ball bounced their way. Joker got a couple offensive rebounds off his misses. If we come up with one of them, maybe the outcome is different.
“I thought Kai was incredible offensively. I thought he had a really good look to be able to knock it down (on his final shot). It just didn’t go down for us tonight. But I thought the group played extremely hard and responded after a tough loss at home against Phoenix.”
Jokic and Irving both put on shows for the sellout crowd. Jokic had his triple double well before the third quarter ended.
For the Mavericks, Luka Dončić narrowly missed a triple double with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. He also was involved in one of the borderline officiating calls late in the game, of which there were several.
Luka was called for a foul on a fly-by when Jamal Murray reared up from three-point range.
After an officials’ review – the second time in two games the Mavericks have had this happen late in the fourth quarter – the call was upheld and Murray went to the line. He made only one of the three.
“It was a good challenge,” Kidd said. “It actually worked out for us. He went one for three. They called it a foul. That put us in a good seat. We had the ball, we were up two, we just missed a couple shots.
“We got the stops when we had to. But they got an offensive tip and were able to score. Kai had a really good look at a three to win it.”
Ultimately, the Nuggets made the plays down the stretch they needed to. And Jokic was involved in virtually all of them.
“He’s such a smart player,” Irving said. “It’s definitely difficult. You try to go at him on the defensive end, run him up and down, but he’s in great shape.”
Said Kidd: “He’s really good at being able to find the cutters. That’s one of his strengths. You throw him different pitches, give him different looks and try to make it hard. He’s seen everything.
“The numbers he’s putting up are MVP numbers. He’s considered the best in the world.”
Leading up to the dramatic finish, Irving had perhaps lulled the Nuggets into a false sense of security in the first three quarters when he wore out the midrange game. He made a slew of 10- to 15-footers to help the Mavericks keep pace with the Nuggets.
Then, Irving uncorked four three-pointers early in the fourth quarter, the last of which put the Mavericks ahead 108-106. But the Nuggets had answers.
“This one right here is definitely emotional,” Irving said, “just because I felt like we had a great chance to win.”
The Mavericks got some good news before the game when Maxi Kleber (right hamstring strain) was cleared to play. He had missed the previous seven games. Strangely, however, he did not play.
Also, Dončić, who had been questionable with a left groin strain, warmed up before the game and got clearance to play.
Still out were P.J. Washington (right knee sprain), Dereck Lively II (right shoulder sprain) and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery).
X: @ESefko
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