Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving, Maxi Kleber deliver game-winning play vs. Anthony Davis, Lakers

LOS ANGELES — Jason Kidd expected Kyrie Irving’s return from injury would give the Mavericks “some juice” Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

That he did.

But not even the Mavericks’ head coach could’ve predicted Maxi Kleber’s final sizzle in the 111-110 victory.

With 6.7 seconds remaining, reserve forward Theo Pinson inbounded the ball to Irving, hoping the 30-year-old superstar guard could out-dribble the Lakers’ defense for a shot to tie the score at 110 or seal the Mavericks’ late comeback with a 3-pointer.

Irving couldn’t generate enough space against Los Angeles’ double-team attention, though, so with less than three seconds remaining, he passed out of traffic to Kleber on the wing.

Seven games after returning from an intricate hamstring tendon surgery and 2.5-month rehab, Kleber swished the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired. He shouted in jubilation as the Mavericks swarmed and tackled him at mid-court.

What an answer to a near-disaster.

After blowing the 14-point lead they opened two minutes after halftime, Dallas needed Irving’s production (38 points) and Kleber’s six points in the last 7.2 seconds with Luka Doncic (left thigh strain) watching from the end of the bench for a fourth consecutive game and with the Western Conference standings on near-constant shuffle mode with three weeks left in the regular season.

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The Mavericks started the night in eighth place, one game ahead of the ninth-place Lakers, so the victory added cushion to their lead for the win-and-in half of the play-in tournament seedings and helped them capitalize on the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves’ double-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls earlier in the evening.

Winners of two consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 8-10 — before Doncic and Irving debuted as post-trade deadline teammates — the Mavericks will now spend their off day Saturday in Santa Monica basking in game-winning positivity.

“Now we can build on that,” Kidd said. “Once we get Luka back, that’s going to give us a little more juice, and I think we understand where we are as a team and we understand we control our fate right now.”

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