Spencer Dinwiddie made his name in the NBA by hitting tough, clutch shots for the Nets. On Wednesday, he came back to bite the Nets with a game-winning shot.
In his first trip to Brooklyn with the Mavericks, Dinwiddie hit a 3-pointer with no time left on the clock to hand the Nets a gut-wrenching 113-111 loss before a sellout crowd of 17,981 at Barclays Center.
After the shot, Dinwiddie was mobbed by his Mavericks teammates as he ran up the side of the court, looking for the scorer’s table to jump on and celebrating in front of the courtside fans who once cheered for him.
“It’s different than the Detroit ones … where I wanted those ones bad, because my time in Detroit wasn’t fun. I spent two years just sitting on the bench,” Dinwiddie said, referring to the start of his career with the Pistons, who gave up on him in 2016. “This one was just fun. It feels good. There’s a lot of positive vibes here. It’s like sticking it to your cousin versus being vengeful for an enemy. … It’s fun, though.”
Luka Doncic scored a game-high 37 points for Dallas, adding nine assists and nine rebounds, as he put smaller defenders on his hip like fanny packs. But Dinwiddie stole the show with 22 points — and the winner.
Spencer Dinwiddie (right) celebrates with his teammates after his last-second shot sunk his former team in the Nets’ 113-111 loss to the Mavericks. Getty ImagesThe Nets led by 14 points in the fourth quarter, and by 102-98 with 5:55 to play.
Kevin Durant’s 3-pointer gave the Nets a 111-110 lead with just 10.6 seconds remaining in regulation, but they couldn’t hold it.
Doncic brought the ball upcourt after a timeout. He ended up with Nic Claxton guarding him on a switch, and Durant left Dinwiddie open to blitz the Dallas star.
“Yeah, I felt it was an opportunity to get the ball out of Luka’s hands,” Durant said. “There’s [three seconds] on the clock and they rush a pass and they rush a shot.”
When Doncic saw Durant coming, he swung the ball to Dinwiddie. Goran Dragic (21 points) was a millisecond too late on his closeout, and Dinwddie drilled the winner for a second straight game. He also beat the Celtics with a 3-pointer on Sunday, but this one may have been sweeter.
Kevin Durant was kept in check against the Mavericks, held to 23 points in the Nets’ loss. USA TODAY Sports“I thought the probabilities on that, of them making that shot was pretty low, but he made a great shot,” Durant said. “If he misses it’s great defense by us; but that’s why he get paid $20 million a year, to make those shots. Gotta give him credit.”
The Nets blew a chance to close ground on the sixth-place Cavaliers, who lost to the 76ers, and still trail Cleveland by 3 ½ games. They were three games behind Toronto pending the Raptors game at the Clippers later Wednesday.
“I wish we would’ve won,” Durant. “We were playing well lately. Against a good team who’s been playing well too, and it would’ve felt good winning that game. But it felt s–tty going into the locker room. That’s just the nature of it, a game-winning shot like that, nobody’s feeling good.
“Just regret, wondering what the game would’ve been like if I didn’t jump Luka there. In hindsight, I wish I’d have made a different decision, but it is what it is.”
Kyrie Irving was out, so Dallas double-teamed Durant every time he got the ball across half-court, sometimes blitzing a third defender.
Durant shook off a stubbed toe to post 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. Six Nets finished in double figures, but they needed dominance from Durant, and the Mavericks found a way to prevent that.
“It felt like we didn’t run any sets because as soon as I came across half-court I’ve got the ball I see two people running at me,” Durant said. “That’s my first time playing against something like that from the tip, everywhere I went as soon as I touched the ball guys just selling out to stop me.”
Patty Mills’ 3-pointer put the Nets ahead 102-96 with 6:12 to play. But Dallas scored eight unanswered points, capped by Maxi Kleber’s free throws to leave the Nets down 104-102 with 3:08 left.
Doncic’s fadeaway put Dallas up 110-108 with 22.7 seconds left. Durant hit a 3-pointer to give the Nets the lead with 10.6 left, but Dinwiddie upstaged him.
“It was a big play,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “I thought we guarded it perfectly, got the ball out of Luka’s hands. Hard, hard contest. Awkward shot and it happened to go in.”
