Dallas — The Denver Nuggets have led in the final 30 seconds of regulation 13 times out of 13 games since the All-Star break.

They’ve only lost two of those games due to three shots from three of the world’s finest shooters.

Kyrie Irving’s 21-foot hook shot with his off hand (the left) to defeat Denver would have been the most remarkable buzzer-beater of the 2023-24 NBA season if Max Strus hadn’t hit a full-court heave three weeks earlier. With that in mind, the Nuggets’ locker room appeared unconcerned with Sunday’s 107-105 loss, even if teammates shared awe of Irving and his well-established ability to shoot ambidextrous circus shots.

“If somebody can make that shot, it’s definitely him,” Nikola Jokic remarked. “I’m surprised, but also not. He is unquestionably capable of making that shot.”

Jokic was the defender who contested Irving’s game-winner from behind the right elbow. The low-percentage shot was the product of Denver’s solid defense on the final out-of-bounds play, which might have gone to Irving or Luka Doncic. Both Dallas guards began in a mass of bodies on the left wing, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope fronted Doncic well and for long enough to force the ball to Irving. He was coming around a screen on the baseline. Jokic recognized it and responded.

“It was the same action that they run, and then the continuation is probably Kyrie coming with a pin-down from the corner,” Jokic went on to say. “Me and Aaron Gordon switched it, and Kyrie made an extremely tough shot.

I think I was there. “I was contesting the shot.”

Michael Malone was disappointed with the outcome but impressed with how Denver defended the play. From the visitor bench, however, the Nuggets felt a collective sense of fear once the ball passed Jokic’s reach. Reggie Jackson, who was in the same draft class as Irving, suspected it was going in.

“One of the most gifted, skilled players to ever play our game,” he remarked.

“I (freaking) hate Ky,” remarked Irving’s former teammate, DeAndre Jordan.  “I love him. He’s incredibly talented. So, if anyone is going to take that shot, it’s definitely him.

Doncic tied the game with 24.2 seconds remaining with a deep 3-pointer, which Dallas also got from a sideline out-of-bounds play. Gordon had become stuck beneath a screen, and his contest at the top of the key was too late. (Doncic deflected credit, praising Irving’s buzzer-beating shot: “I don’t think people realize how tough that shot is.”)

The Mavericks’ 5-0 closing run snapped Denver’s five-game winning streak, matching Kevin Durant’s late game-tying three that forced OT and ended a six-game run earlier in March.

The sheer daring of Irving’s shot, along with the statistical oddities that cost the Nuggets the game from a broader viewpoint, allayed team leaders’ concerns. The Mavericks outrebounded Denver, 59-37, for a 23-6 advantage in second-chance points. So far in the 2024 calendar year (34 games), it was the first time the Nuggets lost a rebounding battle by double digits and the fourth time they lost a rebounding battle by five or more — compared to seven games during same timeframe in which they out-rebounded the opponent by double digits.

Then there was Jokic’s 6-for-16 performance, his sixth-lowest shooting % of the season. Murray’s 7-for-20 performance marks his third time this season shooting 35% or below on 20 or more tries.

“You look at the wins, bro,” Murray remarked. “We’ve been winning and losing, and we’re looking for a common denominator, like, bro hit a left-handed floater from the top of the key away from the hoop. It’s an incredible shot. And we played bad until the last few minutes, so we’re fighting, and we were just happy to be in that situation given how we performed throughout the game.”

Jokic neatly summarized the Nuggets’ fate on a remarkable afternoon in Texas: “That’s basketball.” We took a few harsh shots. Jamal scored a huge three. They made a massive three. “That’s the beauty of basketball.”