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Anthony Gharib, ESPN
Kyrie Irving hit a miraculous buzzer-beater to defeat the Denver Nuggets 107-105 on Sunday.
The Dallas Mavericks guard made a winning left-handed running hook shot over Nikola Jokic as the clock hit zero. Irving’s shot gave Dallas its fifth win in its past six games.
“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,” Irving said. “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?”
The decision paid off as Irving finished with 24 points. He also had nine assists, seven rebounds and three steals.
Irving did it all while wearing a Mavericks colorway of his Anta Kai 1’s. The Anta Kai’s were officially released on March 6.
Here are some other top kicks from around the league in Week 21.
The Curry 11’s have some sweet colorways, but none may be as sweet as the ones the guard wore on Sunday. He rocked the new Curry 11 “Girl Dad” colorway against the New York Knicks, as a tribute to his two daughters. Curry had 27 points with five rebounds and five assists in a loss.
It’s no secret that the late Kobe Bryant’s sneakers are popular among so many players. Banton wore a popular pair against the Chicago Bulls — the Nike Kobe 8 Protro “Venice Beach.” The original shoe was released in 2013, but will be re-released in April. The Venice Beach colorway is a nod to the shore that’s just 16 miles away from the former Staples Center, where Bryant played.
In his second game back from injury, Middleton wore a player edition of the Nike G.T. Cut titled “Khash Money,” according to Nick DePaula. Middleton had 22 points with six rebounds and six assists in a loss against the Boston Celtics.
Antetokounmpo has never shied away from unique colorways for his sneakers since its inception in 2019. He donned a bright orange pair of his Zoom Freak 5’s, reminiscent of an orange basketball against the Brooklyn Nets.