A floater, runner, or hook shot—call it whatever you want.

Perhaps Kyrie Irving would settle for a key game-winner.

The Dallas star made a sprinting left-handed shot at the buzzer to conclude a frantic final 26 seconds and give the Mavericks a 107-105 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.

Luka Doncic scored 37 points and Irving had 24 as the up-and-down Mavericks (39-29) defeated the defending champions for their fifth win in six games, snapping a 1-5 span that followed a seven-game winning streak, Dallas’ longest this season.

The Mavericks drew even with Phoenix, forming a virtual tie with Sacramento for the Western Conference’s sixth and last guaranteed playoff spot.

“In Kyrie, we trust,” said rookie center Dereck Lively II, who scored 14 points. “Whenever we see him get the ball, sit back and watch it happen.”

The Nuggets rallied from 13 points down midway through the fourth quarter, winning on Jamal Murray’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with 26 seconds left.

Doncic responded nearly immediately on the inbounds pass following a timeout, connecting from several feet behind the arc for a 105-105 tie.

After Murray missed an elbow jumper, Dallas called a timeout with 2.8 seconds remaining. The right-handed Irving received the inbounds pass, dribbled with his left hand as Nikola Jokic pursued, and had to chuck up a jumper from 21 feet to beat the buzzer.

“Sometimes I spend an hour straight just working on straight left-hand stuff,” the 6-foot-2 Irving admitted. “Being a little guard requires a variety of finishes. And it’s something I’ve been working on since I was a child.”

After the shot, Irving sprinted toward his teammates coming off the bench and was swarmed around midcourt as Jokic and his teammates strolled quietly to the Denver locker room.

“I wasn’t going to jump into the pile,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd explained. “I thought about it. But, knowing my luck, I would have missed and hit the ground. I assumed I’d simply stand there and celebrate with those men. Lots of fun. “It should be enjoyable.”

The Nuggets’ five-game road win streak came to an end. They had won all five by double digits, which was unprecedented in franchise history. Denver is the only team this season with two road winning streaks of at least five games.

Denver (47-21) fell half a game behind Oklahoma City for the West’s top record, falling to 11-2 since the All-Star break. The other loss came in overtime, with Phoenix’s Kevin Durant hitting a tying three with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.

“I saw Kyrie Irving make a running, left-handed hook from the elbow,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said when questioned about the final sequence. “We’ve been on both sides of it.”

Murray scored 23 points, while the Mavs limited Jokic to a 6-of-16 shooting day. Jokic finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and he was upset over no-calls when the Mavs made a lot of contact in the first half.

Malone, who eventually called timeout and stepped across the court to complain, was issued a technical. He almost got a second before guard Reggie Jackson was also called for one.

Irving and Doncic combined for consecutive three-pointers to give Dallas a nine-point lead with eight minutes remaining, which grew to 13 before the Nuggets began to claw back.

Michael Porter Jr., who scored 12 of his 20 points in the first quarter, sparked the recovery with a 3-pointer. With 1:05 remaining, Jokic scored a hoop inside to tie the Nuggets at 102-102.

P.J. Washington Jr. collected 11 rebounds, his most for Dallas since being acquired in a trade with Charlotte last month. The Mavericks outrebounded Denver, 59-37. Dallas had a season-high 21 offensive rebounds and a 23-6 lead in second-chance points.

“I can’t remember the last time we got outrebounded by 22,” Malone went on to say.