Kyrie Irving was on cloud nine after making a near-impossible game-winner on Sunday as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Denver Nuggets 107-105 in a thrilling encounter.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Irving said his miraculous shot to seal the game was the result of the tireless work he puts in behind the scenes.
“Man, the majority of it is instinctual and comes from preparation for hours that no one sees,” Irving said. “I saw Jokic taking away my pull-up going left. I knew that he was going to come up, but I didn’t know he was going to commit like that, so he was forcing me inside the 3-point line. As soon as I felt him kind of behind me, I was like, oh, I have my left hand. It’s wide open, so why not go to it?
“Sometimes I spend just an hour straight just working on straight left-hand stuff. Just being a small guard, you’ve just got to have a multitude of finishes. And that’s something I’ve been working on since I was a kid.”
Irving said the play Dallas ran on the final play was one they frequently practice.
“It’s a play that we work on during shoot around pretty often,” he said. “So it felt good to execute and to trust my teammates out there and being lucky enough and fortunate enough to hit a left-hand floater outside the free-throw line. I thought I got a little closer in the paint, but when I looked at it after the game, I was pretty far out. But, you know, shots that I work on and just being ambidextrous and being able to trust the the skills that I work on when no one’s watching and, you know, fortunately enough it went in tonight.”
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd heaped praise on Irving during his postgame media availability.
“Kai is one of the best finishers in the league… probably going to go down as one of the best finishers ever,” Kidd said. “And just his float game with the right, left, it’s just natural and he delivered.”
The win lifts Dallas to 39-29. They are currently tied with the sixth-seeded Sacramento Kings.
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