Nuggets 105- 107 Mavericks summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA

With 2.8 to go, Kyrie looked like he was closed out by Jokic who forced him to the left and made him take this near impossible shot from the elbow. Irving sank the runner with his left hand and downed Denver in the last second to snap the Nuggets five game win streak. 

Doncic answered back with a game tying three ball after the go ahead three ball from Murray. Denver had a chance to win the game with 28 on the clock, but Murray missed his elbow jumper and Dallas called a timeout with 2.8 to go in the 4th. Luka ended the game with 37, 9 and 3 assists. 

Jamal Murray drilled this three ball to give the Nuggets the lead with under 30 seconds to complete a 20-4 run which put all the pressure on the Mavs after leading the entire second half.

The Mavs built up a 13 point lead in the 4th quarter thanks to Kyrie and Doncic but the Nuggets had one last comeback bid at the end of the game. 

Kyrie was held under 10 in the first half, but he started to warm up in the second. He had 14 in the final 24 minutes and he was saving the best for last. 

Everyone was chipping in but Luka was carrying the Mavs in a game that stayed within double digits until the final quarter. Luka had 23 points in the first half and he was just getting started. 

Daniel Gafford has brought another dynamic to the Dallas Mavericks with his ability to defend the rim and create easy alley oops with his incredible hops. He had 8 points, 6 rebounds and he and Lively held Jokic to just 16 points, 11 rebounds ad 7 assists which are humble numbers for the big Serb. 

Kyrie and Luka are going to be the main characters in the Mavs race to the end of the regular season and the playoffs, but they need to see their big guys play like they played against the Nuggets. Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford came up huge in one of the Mavs biggest games of the season. Lively had 14 and 8 rebounds off the bench and did a good job keeping Nikola Jokic under wraps for the majority of the game. 

The Dallas Mavericks got a crucial win over the defending champion Denver Nuggets to knock them out of the top spot in the West and climb closer to an automatic playoff spot thanks to a game winning buzzer beater by Kyrie Irivng. 

Kyrie started the Mavs off but was quiet for most of the game as Luka Doncic took center stage on Sunday afternoon in Dallas. 

Before we get into the rest of the highlights, let's take a look at the game winner from Kyrie Irving. 

IRVING WITH THE LEFT HOOK SHOT FROM THE FT LINE AND HE ENDS THE GAME WITH A BUZZER BEATER TO DROP DENVER!!!

Murray missed the go ahead mid range jumper from the elbow and the Mavs have it with 2.8 to go. 

Timeout DAL 

Doncic with the quick trigger and he drills the three ball from the top of the key!

Murray pulls up off the pick and roll and drills it from the wing! He's got 12 in the 4th!

Timeout Dallas, down three with 26.8 to go!

Jokic ties the game up backing down Doncic in the lane with a lay in off the glass. 

Doncic fouled by Murray and he hits one of two FTs. 

Murray in the lane and he lays it up and in with the left hand, and we've got a one point game with 2:00 to go. 

Timeout Mavs with 3:01 to go. 

KCP off the screen from Jokic and he pulls up from the midrange on the wing. 

Doncic to the line after the foul on Gordon and he hits one of two FTs with 3:30 to go in the 4th. 

Extra pass from Gordon in the corner and he finds Murray for the three bal lon the wing!

Porter Jr. to the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Exum. 

Lively euro steps his way to the bucket off the bounce pass from Irving in transition. 

KCP off the catch and shoot from the kick out from Gordon!

Porter sinks a three ball from the wing and that snaps the streak from the Dallas Mavericks. 

Doncic driving down the lane with Jokic on his back and the fake pass to the corner opens up a lane for the lay up. 

Jones driving into the paint from the left side and the finger roll falls. 

Doncic steps back and drills the three ball from the wing!

Murray fading away from outside the lane and he drops a tough shot over his defender. 

Irving pulls the trigger from the top of the key and drills it!

Gafford sends Murray to the line where he hits both FTs to fall. 

KCP pulls up from the FT line out of the timeout. 

Gafford following the miss from Irving and he gets the put back to fall. 

Timeout Nuggets two minutes into the fourth quarter. 

Nnaji sends Doncic to the line where he hits both FTs. 

WE ARE HEADED TO THE FOURTH QUARTER FROM DALLAS!!! 

The Mavs are up five heading into the final 12 minutes. 

Irving goes coast to coast with the lay up and he's got the last 7 points for DAL. 

Irving off the dribble and he hits the elbow J. 

Jackson off the handoff from Jokic and he hits the catch and shoot from the wing. 

Iriing with a tough pull up over Jackson and he sticks the three ball from the wing!

Braun on the break and Porter led him for the dunk as he got behind the Mavs defense. 

Porter sends Hardaway to the line where he hits one of two FTs. 

Joker hits the mid range jumper from the FT line. 

Lively with the put back and one after two offensive boards from Dallas!

FT is no good. 

Jokic out of the timeout and he takes Washington to the rack for a lay up. 

Pick and roll from Irivng to Gafford who lays it up and in off the glass. 

Timeout Nuggets after a 9-0 run from Dallas. 

Jones driving the baseline and he double clutches for the jam!

Doncic finds Irving in the corner and he drills the three!

Doncic comes out of the timeout with the floater down the lane. 

Jokic with the extra pass on the break and he finds KCP in the corner for three!

Timeout Mavs with 7:44 to go in the 3rd quarter. 

Gordon working down low and may have got away with a travel before that lay up went in. 

Jones recovers after getting the transition lay up knocked out of his hands and gets the put back to fall. 

Washington with a rebound and a quick look up for Gafford who lunges to the rim and lays it up and in. 

Foul on KCP that sends Jones to the line and he hits one of two FTs. 

Jokic using the glass after the pass across the lane from Gordon. 

Jokic takes a dribble at the top of the key and dumps it down for Murray on the baseline lay up. 

Washington scoops up the offensive board off his own miss and hits the floater on the put back. 

WE ARE BACK IN PLAY FROM DALLAS!

Jokic has just 9 points after the first two quarters, but he has four assists (most to AG) to go along with his 4 rebounds. Gordon has nine of his own, most of them coming on rack attacks. 

MPJ has a team high 15 points, going 3/5 from downtown in the first half, but Jokic and Murray have yet to come alive from Dallas. 

Luka went off in the first half, scoring 23 on 8/15 shooting. He's got a showdown with Jokic as two of the leading MVP candidates square off tonight. 

The stars for both sides are doing their things, but the role players are stepping up and playing a big part for each team. Lively came off the bench and had 10 points. 

There is no team in the NBA that creates more mismatches than the Denver Nuggets and Aaron Gordon is their secret weapon. Jamal Murray and Jokic are the stars but Gordon is the difference maker. 

The Nuggets came out of the gate slow but MPJ put them on their back and hit a couple of long balls early on to get the offense going. 

Doncic with a step back three ball and he's in his bag right now! 

Timeout Nuggets with 6:30 in the first half. 

Murray with another scoop lay up high off the glass. He sinks it and gets the foul on Doncic! FT is good. 

Doncic to the line after the Porter foul and he hits both FTs. 

Jokic on the slip pass to Gordon on the baseline and he goes reverse on the jam. 

Murray to the line after the foul on Hardaway and he hits both FTs. 

Lively underneath and he had his first attempt blocked but got the loose ball and put it back up and in. 

Gordon to the line after the foul on Kleber and he hits one of two FTs. 

Another drive to the cup from Exum and he lays it up and in off the glass. 

Irving gets to the iron and hits the tough lay up in traffic. 

Braun on the floater in the lane. 

Exum driving to the bucket and he gets the lay up to drop. 

Jokic backing down and he looks over his shoulder and finds Gordon for the slam down the lane. 

Jackson with the tough shot in the lane over the defenders. 

Doncic looking inside and he finds Exum for the lay up down low. 

MPJ with a tough shot from DT over Doncic out of the timeout. 

Doncic with a step back three ball and he's in his bag right now! 

Timeout Nuggets with 6:30 in the first half. 

Braun answers back with a triple try and he's got six quick points off the bench. 

Doncic drills a three ball from the wing and he might be starting to heat up!

Doncic gets underneath and hits a patient bucket after a couple of pump fakes and misdirections. 

Nnaji with a cut to the bucket and he gets the lay up to go off the Murray dish. 

Irving backing his defender down and he jump stops in the lane and hits the floater. 

Braun to the line after the foul on Jones and he hits one of two FTs. 

Nnaji running the floor and Murray found him with a full court pass for the slam!

Murray finds Braun cutting to the basket and he throws it down with one hand!

Doncic on the leaner in the lane and he gets it to go, but doesn't get the foul which he was looking for on the way down the court. 

Hardy fouled by Holiday and he goes to the line where he hits both FTs. 

Gafford grabs the offensive board and puts back the second chance points off the jump hook to start the quarter. 

Doncic strolls to the basket after the pump fake from the top of the key and he beats the buzzer!

That brings us to the end of the first quarter with the Nuggets up by 4. 

Jokic to the line and he hits both FTs after the Lively foul. 

Murray down the right side of the lane and he throws it up high off the glass and gets the off balalnce scoop shot to go. 

Coach Malone got T'd up before the timeout break and so did Jackson, so Irving hits both FTs. 

Exum goes coast to coast after the rebound on one end and the lay up on the other. 

Timeout Nuggets with 40 seconds to go in the 1st quarter. 

Lively on the aley oop slam off the feed from Irving! He's had a couple of those off the bench already!

Watson drills a three ball in the corner off the kick out from Jackson!

Kleber with a touch pass from the corner and he finds Lively for the slam down low. 

Jackson off the bench and on the board with a three ball off the kick out from Jokic!

Irving hits Lively on the slip screen to the lane and he smashes home a two handed slam. 

Jokic got the bucket to go down low and the foul on Lively! FT is good. 

Doncic off the dribble and he hits the runner off the hook shot from outside the lane. 

MPJ down the lane and he hammers one home!

Doncic to the line after the foul on Gordon and he hits both FTs. 

MPJ with his second three ball of the three ball off the step back from the top of the key. 

Exum drives and lobs it up to Lively who slams it home off the alley oop. 

Entry pass from KCP to Jokic and he lays it up and in to stretch he DEN run to 13-2. 

Timeout Dallas with 5:26 to go in the 1st. 

Gordon spins on Irving from the block and he slams it home off the entry pass from Murray. 

Gordon to the line after the foul on Doncic and he hits both FTs. 

Murray to the line after a foul on Gafford and he hits both FTs. 

Gafford on the put back after the blocked shot on Irving. 

Porter drills a three ball from the win and he's starting to get warm early in the first quarter. 

Porter to the line after the foul on Gafford and he hits both FTs. 

Irving with the steal and he had a chance at the lay up but lobbed it up for Jones for the alley oop slam!

Timeout Nuggets with 9:13 to go in the first quarter. 

Irving getting into the mix with a catch and shoot three from the top of the key!

Murray drops it down to MPJ in the lane and he hits the short jumper from outside the lane. 

Luka with a quick start, he drops a three ball from the win on a spot up three over MPJ. 

Jokic to the line after the foul on Washington and he hits one of two FTs. 

Doncic gets the day started a lay up after a give and go with Washington from the top of the key. 

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM DALLAS!!!

After Luka sat out the last game in OKC, the Mavs get their MVP candidate back. He is joined by Kyrie Iriving, PJ Washington, Jones Jr. and Daniel Gafford who is going to be the key to success for Dallas tonight and when they try to make their playoff run. 

The Nuggets have one of the best starting fives in the league, and for this Sunday afternoon showdown they have everyone on board. Jokic and Murray are the stars, but Aaron Gordon and MPJ are the perfect swingmen that can keep a defense off balance and KCP is a three and D expert that is capable of scoring 20 any time he steps on the floor. 

Western Conference Standings

Taking a look at the West, we see the Nuggets tied with the Thunder for the top seed in the Conference. The Thunder hold the tie breaker so if the season ended today, OKC would get the one seed, but luckily for the Nuggets there is still a month left in the regular season. The Mavs are in a different race, trying to climb out of the Play-In Standings. They are currently in 8th, a half game back from the Kings and a game back of the Suns who have the last automatic playoff spot in the 6 seed. It's going to be a race for the top six, but the Mavs are going to have to catch up to the rest of the pack while holding off the Lakers and the Warriors who are a few games back of Dallas. 

Three-peat for Joker?

The Joker is unwillingly in the running for this third MVP award of his career. While he values the team achievements more than the individual ones, the rest of us sit back and marvel at his genius. The good news for Jokic is not only is he in the running for MVP, but the Nugs are at the top of the Western Conference and have a chance at home court throughout the Western Conference Playoffs. He enters the day averaging 26, 12 and 9 assists. He, like Doncic is a walking triple double, and we wouldn't be surprised to see both Europeans put on a triple double show today in Dallas. 

MVP watch

It's not every day that you have two of the top MVP candidates in the league going toe to toe in a Sunday afternoon matchup. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. Doncic is the league's leading scorer, averaging over 34 points a game to go along with his 9 rebounds and 9.8 assists. He had a record breaking stretch of six straight triple doubles with 30+ points that was snapped last week, but he is still one of the leading candidates for the MVP. The only thing that could keep him from winning his first MVP is the Mavs record. 

Nuggets last game

The Nuggets went to San Antonio and took down the lowly Spurs to rattled off their fifth straight win and 11th in their last 12 thanks to another impressive showing from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Denver jumped out to a 19 point lead in the first quarter, and eased to victory on the first of two games on a Texas road trip. Jokic has 31, 7 and 5 whole Jamal Murray did the dirty work with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in the 117-106 win to keep pace with the Thunder in the race for the top spot in the Western Conference. 

Mavs last game

The Mavs were in Oklahoma City without Luka Doncic and took the Thunder to the wire. Luka was nursing a sore hamstring, so that meant it was up to Kyrie Irving and the rest of the cast to step up and carry the load against one of the top teams in the league. The game went back and forth and Kyire’s 36 points kept Dallas in the game the entire way but the SGA and the Thunder took the slim lead in the second half and kept Dallas at an arms distance the rest of the way. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 and Jalen Williams had another 27 to carry the Thunder over the short handed Mavs. 

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

Hello everyone and welcome to Big D where the Dallas Mavericks are back home taking on one of the leaders in the Western Conference for a second straight game. Luka Doncic sat out last game against SGA and OKC, but will be back in the starting five tonight against a Denver Nuggets team that has their eye on the top spot in the Western Conference. Both of these teams need a win tonight for their own playoff objectives which makes this early tip a must see, or must follow in our case.

Nuggets vs. Mavs

We have a potential first round match up in the Western Conference Playoffs between two of the top talents in the league as the defending champions take on team with title aspirations today from Dallas. Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets head to Dallas to take on Luka Doncic and the Nuggets as two of the favorites for the MVP go toe to toe with heavy playoff implications on the line. AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, scores and highlights from American Airlines Center.