Maxi Kleber #42 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates after scoring the buzz beating winning there-point basket against Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on March 17, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP
Kyrie Irving scored 38 points in his return from a foot injury and Maxi Kleber made a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the visiting Dallas Mavericks pulled off a 111-110 victory on Friday to win consecutive games in the NBA for the first time in more than a month.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood each scored 12 points as the Mavericks won without Luka Doncic, who has missed the last four games with a thigh injury, but could be back Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Mavericks (36-35) remained ahead of the Lakers (34-37) in the Western Conference standings while winning the season series between the teams 3-1. Dallas had not won consecutive games since a three-game streak Feb. 6-10.
Maxi Kleber sinks the CLUTCH triple to lift the @dallasmavs to the win 🔥#TissotBuzzerBeater | #TimingEmotions pic.twitter.com/WiFSpMLG8o
— NBA (@NBA) March 18, 2023
Anthony Davis scored 26 points with 10 rebounds for the Lakers after missing Wednesday’s defeat to the Houston Rockets because of load management. Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Dennis Schroder added 15 as Los Angeles played its 10th consecutive game without LeBron James (foot).
The Mavericks closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take an 89-80 lead into the final period. Irving, who missed the previous three games, scored five points in the run.
The Lakers opened the fourth quarter on a 12-5 run to pull within 94-92 and grabbed a 97-96 advantage with 7:09 remaining on a runner by Reaves for their first lead since the second quarter.
Kyrie Irving #2 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates with Maxi Kleber #42 after he scored the game winning three-point basket against Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of the game at Crypto.com Arena on March 17, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP
The Lakers went up 107-102 with 3:16 to play on a jumper by Davis but did not make another field goal. The Mavericks pulled to within 109-108 with 7.2 seconds remaining when Kleber was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Davis with 7.2 seconds left.
Davis made just one of two free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining before Irving found Kleber for the game winner as time expired. The Mavericks outscored the Lakers 9-3 over the final 2:48.
The Mavericks led 62-54 at halftime after shooting 57.1 percent. The Lakers managed to shoot 52.4 percent in the first half but made just 3 of 11 attempts from 3-point range and 7 of 13 free-throw attempts.