Maxi Kleber's Game-Winning Shot vs. Lakers Lights Spark Under Mavs: 'Redemption Is A Beautiful Thing'

The Dallas Mavericks avoided a clutch-time loss on Friday night on the back of Maxi Kleber's redeeming game-winning shot at the buzzer. Dallas now has consecutive wins for the first time in over a month.

Michael Mulford | Mar 18, 2023

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The Dallas Mavericks getting a win in a clutch situation sounds so foreign, but they did just that on Friday night in a 111-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers behind a buzzer beating 3-pointer from Maxi Kleber.

With 6.7 seconds remaining, and the Mavericks down by two, Kyrie Irving got the inbound and drove to his right, where he was met by three Laker defenders, opening up the pocket to find a wide-open Kleber on the left wing to knock down the game-winning shot.

"He's a good teammate, man," Kleber said of Irving. "He lifts everybody up all the time. He found good words for me. He was there all the time. I had a bad stretch the last game at the very game so he lifted me up, helped me as a teammate."

For Kleber, this moment did wonders for his confidence after feeling like he let his team down in San Antonio on Wednesday night with a late turnover in the final seconds, which led to the Spurs forcing overtime.

"The end of the San Antonio game -- just to be able to feel like he let his teammates down but his teammates picked him up," coach Jason Kidd said of Kleber. "But tonight, he picked up his teammates by knocking down the three free throws and then being able to knock down that three."

Following the victory during Kleber's postgame interview, Kleber said that Irving told him 'that's redemption' in light of his late-game blunder in Wednesday's victory against the Spurs.

"I felt like that was a redemption shot for him," Irving said. "He was putting a lot of pressure on himself after that turnover in San Antonio."

Despite all the outside noise of who Irving is as a teammate, the Mavericks have experienced a guy who is a great leader both on and off the court, capable of bringing his team together.

"That's who Kai is -- Kai is a true believer of energy and connection," Kidd said. "Kai says it best, 'redemption is a beautiful thing.'"

Dallas will look to continue their redemption tour on Monday in Memphis.

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Published Mar 18, 2023

MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.