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Watch: After halftime, Denver hits buzzer beater to end first half
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) cheers on the Mavericks from the team bench during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at the American Airlines Center. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: After halftime, Denver hits buzzer beater to end first half

It will take years for the NBA to produce a sequence as wild as the one that took place in Dallas Sunday night.

Luka Doncic made what appeared to be a three-pointer at the buzzer leading to halftime of Dallas' game against Denver. The two teams went to the locker room believing the Mavericks held a 59-52 lead. Because the score occurred at the end of the half it was automatically reviewed. When officials reviewed the play, they found Doncic stepped out of bounds, nullifying the shot and resulting in a turnover with two seconds left in the first half.

Since the teams had left the court for halftime, they played the final two seconds of the first half after returning from the halftime break.

What would have been a funny aside became a huge story when Denver's Vlatko Cancar hit a three-point attempt from beyond the half-court line in a buzzer-beater that actually counted. 

The make cut the Mavs lead to 56-55 and Denver would go on to win 98-97.

The Nuggets improved to 10-6 with the win while the Mavericks fell to 9-7.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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