Source: Ron Jenkins / Getty
Clutch Kyrie Irving—you know, the one who secured the Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA Championship in 2016—was on full display Sunday afternoon.
The Dallas Mavericks were playing the defending champion Denver Nuggets when he sunk a buzzer-beater to clinch the 107-105 win.
Irving didn’t just sink the game-winner, but it was with a left-handed hook shot. The impressive play took place in the waning seconds of the game when Irving was tossed the ball while he stood in the corner.
Nikola Jokic is guarding him and attempting to drive past him, but when he can’t because of Jokic’s elite defense, he creates some space with two dribbles, and then he heaves up a left-handed shot just inside the three-point line. Time expires as Irving is surrounded by his teammates near center court to celebrate the win.
After the game, Irving reveals that he didn’t even know how far away he was from the hoop.
“I thought I got a little closer in the paint, but I looked at it after the game, and I was pretty far out,” Irving said.
According to ESPN, the shot was precisely 20.1 away from the hoop, making it the second-longest hook shot this season. You won’t have to look too far to see who holds the longest hook shot record because that’s also Irving, considering the hook shot he made at the top of the key earlier this year.
The New Jersey native let it be known that his shot wasn’t pure luck; it was instead a result of the hours of practice he puts in that fans don’t see despite Jokic’s lockdown defense.
“Man, majority of it is instinctual and comes from preparation for hours that no one sees,” Irving said. “I saw a 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?”
Even more impressive is that Irving is participating in Ramadan and made the play on an empty stomach.
See how social media’s reacting to Irving’s buzzer-beater below.
