Dallas Mavericks Coach Jason Kidd is no stranger to coming back to Brooklyn, where his jersey number hangs from the rafters, and leading his team to victory. Now he’s got some company in that regard, after Mavs traded deadline acquisition Spencer Dinwiddie buried a buzzer beater on Wednesday to lead Dallas to a win over his former team, the Nets.
At the end of a back and forth final flurry that saw the lead change hands three times in the final 23 seconds, Dinwiddie’s triple tickled the twine as time expired to give the Mavericks a 113-111 win at Barclays Center. It was the second straight game that Dinwiddie has hit the game-winner on the road for Dallas, following up his three with nine seconds left to give the Mavs a win in Boston on Sunday.
Dinwiddie continues to be the best acquisition of the NBA’s annual trade deadline frenzy, his clutch gene shining through on multiple occasions for Dallas.
“When you add another piece like Spencer, who is not afraid, as we see, it just makes you that much stronger,” Coach Kidd said after the game. “It’s hard, sometimes, to trust, can someone make a shot. I’ve been there…it’s just, our growth all season on this journey, you can see our team is growing and maturing and trusting, and then having fun.”
In a game that saw the Mavs fall behind early, trail by as many as 14, lead only twice in the first 44-plus minutes and roar back to take the lead in the closing moments, a rollercoaster finish seemed fitting. Over the final three minutes, Dallas took the lead five separate times, but the Nets had an answer every time, until they didn’t have any time.
With the score tied at 108 apiece and under a minute to go, the Mavs got the ball to Luka Doncic, who buried a fadeaway to give Dallas a two point lead with 22.7 remaining. However, Kevin Durant responded by initiating the Brooklyn offense with 15 seconds to go. He got around a screen and, despite a hand in his face, Durant nailed a 27-foot three-pointer to restore a one-point Brooklyn lead with 10.6 seconds left.
But Dallas had the last shot opportunity. With Doncic was handling the ball at the top of the key, Brooklyn sent a swarm of defenders his way, but the Mavs star did not panic, sending a bounce pass to Dinwiddie, who got his shot off and the ball went through the net as the buzzer sounded.
Making his third straight start and fifth in the last six game due to Reggie Bullock’s absence, Dinwiddie was part of Coach Kidd’s three-guard lineup and finished the night with 22 points. Jalen Brunson added 18, and Doncic had another MVP-level performance with 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
“What a great game to watch. To sit there and watch stars,” Coach Kidd said. “Durant does what he does. He made the three, even though we knew that was coming we couldn’t guard it, but I thought our mental, we didn’t blame anybody, we didn’t lose focus and we delivered when we had to.”
The opening quarter was a tight battle with both teams exchanging baskets early on. Halfway through the quarter Brooklyn was able to create a 7-0 run to give themselves an eight-point lead. Doncic responded by using the pick and roll and finding Dwight Powell in the paint and when Dorian Finney-Smith scored a tip in on the next possession, the Mavs pulled within four. However, the Nets closed out the quarter on a 8-5 run to head into the second up with a 30-23 lead.
Dinwiddie and Brunson created the offense early in the second quarter and Dinwiddie repeatedly got into the paint to finish tough layups. After a James Johnson basket, Dinwiddie became the facilitator and found Brunson for a jump shot to bring the score to 35-30. But once again the Nets had an answer and Goran Dragic, who scored six of his 14 points in the quarter, haulted the Mavs momentum by helping spark an 8-0 run as the Nets built a 12-point advantage.
The Mavs tightened the game in the closing the minutes of the half by finding their rhythm from deep.
With the clock under four to go until halftime, Josh Green found Doncic for a three-pointer. After a couple Brooklyn free throws, Doncic hit another three. Later, Luka kept the offensive rhythm going by finding Brunson for a three of his own, which put Dallas down a basket, 57-55. After the Nets extended the lead again, Green hit another three, but Brooklyn got to the line to end the half on a high note. Still, Dallas outscored Brooklyn 35-31 in the second and headed into halftime only looking at a 61-58 deficit.
The start of the second half had both the teams exchanging shots. Things started to sway in favor of the Nets after Durant hit a 28-foot three pointer. He followed it up with a couple of free throws and Patty Mills kept the run going by finding Nic Claxton for a breakaway dunk. Dallas kept sending double teams to limit Durant, so he had to find the open teammate, but he did just that and the Nets role players made their open looks, which facilitated a 10-0 run to extend the lead back to nine. Despite Dallas’ best efforts, Brooklyn kept coming and ended the quarter on another run, taking a 91-79 lead into the final quarter.
The Mavs needed another comeback, and fortunately they have made it a habit to finish with big fourth quarters. A three-point play by Dinwiddie followed by four quick points from Brunson pulled Dallas within seven. The Mavs kept slowly cutting into the deficit and, after a Dinwiddie hit a three-pointer with 7:53 to go, were a basket away from taking the lead.
Brooklyn pushed back but Dallas responded with a 6-0 run to tie things up at 102. Moments later Kleber got fouled and hit both his free throws to give the Mavericks a two-point lead. Dallas was a perfect 19-of-19 from the free throw line in the game including 10-for-10 in the fourth quarter.
Over the final minutes it was the Mavs consistently pulling ahead with Brooklyn responding time and again. With just under a minute to go and Dallas up two, Durant pulled up for a jump shot and missed, but Claxton got two offensive rebounds and finally the put back to tie it up at 108. On the ensuing possession, the clock dropped under 30 seconds and Doncic had Dragic draped all over him with the shot clock approaching zero. So Doncic used a shoulder shimmy to get separation and hit a fadeaway jumper for a two-point Dallas lead.
Durant had faced double teams all night, but with the game on the line no one was going to take the shot except him. He allowed the clock to run to 14 seconds before he made his move to his spot, there was a screen set at the left wing and Dinwiddie quickly reacted to put a hand in Durant’s face, but the Brooklyn star still nailed the three-pointer to give Brooklyn a one-point lead, 111-110.
Coach Kidd called a timeout with 10 seconds remaining to draw up a play to win the game for Dallas. Doncic was handling the ball when multiple defenders flew to him, which forced him to get the ball to Dinwiddie, who received the bounce pass and buried the three-pointer just in time to beat the buzzer.
Dinwiddie’s impact on the Mavs continues to show late in games, he scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter against Brooklyn and Coach Kidd acknowledged that while his team was not good during clutch situations early in the year, they have now developed and have the right mentality.
“We got a group, a great group of young men in there who believe they can win no matter what the score is,” Coach Kidd said. “We’ve gotten better at it and if you want to win at the next level you have to be able to deliver and hopefully we understand what it takes to do that. We’ll grow, we’re not done with this road trip, we head to Philly now, but again this is another big win for us.”