Spencer Dinwiddie stuns Nets with three-pointer at the buzzer to win it for Dallas

Ouch.

Spencer Dinwiddie stuck it to his former team in the most painful of ways Wednesday night by hitting an open three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dallas Mavericks a 113-111 win over the Nets at the Barclays Center.

It marked the second straight game in which Dinwiddie hit a winning three. On Sunday, he lifted Dallas to a win over the Celtics with 11.6 seconds left.

"I thought the probabilities of him making that shot was pretty low," Kevin Durant said. "But he made a great shot . . . You have to give him credit."

Dinwiddie’s shot was the final punctuation point on what had been a matchup between two of the NBA’s hottest players in Durant and Luka Doncic.

Both came up with big buckets in the final minute. Doncic hit a 17-footer with 22.7 seconds left to give Dallas a 110-108 lead. Durant responded with what looked to be a game-winning three to make it 111-110.

"They played me a little loose there, so I was able to get the shot off," said Durant, who finished with 23 points. "I had a good look there."

It appeared that the Nets tried to do everything they could to avoid a repeat of the Mavericks’ last possession. Durant moved to trap Doncic behind the arc, which left Dinwiddie open. Goran Dragic tried rotating over to stop Dinwiddie’s game-winning shot, but was a step too late.

"It was a big play. I thought we guarded it perfectly," Nash said. "Got the ball out of Luka’s hands. Hard, hard contest. Awkward shot and it happened to go in, so I was proud of the guys. Great fight. They made a big play to win it and our group playing their third game in four nights I thought showed a lot of resilience."

Dinwiddie, playing his first game against the Nets as a member of the Mavericks, finished with 22 points. Doncic led all scorers with 31.

The Nets (36-34) had entered on a four-game winning streak. The last two of those wins included some history-making moments.

On Sunday, Durant scored a season-high 53 points, including the go-ahead three, in a 110-107 win over the Knicks at the Barclays Center. On Tuesday, Irving delivered a jaw-dropping, 60-point performance in Orlando in a blowout win over the Magic.

The two players became the first teammates in NBA history to score 50 or more points in consecutive games.

Unfortunately for the Nets, Durant and Irving can do it on the court together only three times in the Nets’ final 12 games of the regular season. Irving, who is unvaccinated, is not allowed to play in New York and Toronto.

At the start of the season, the Nets were the Vegas favorite to win an NBA title. Irving’s inability to play at home, and a knee injury that caused Durant to miss 21 games precipitated the team to drop from first place in January to a No. 8 play-in spot.

Simmons’ treatment. Ben Simmons, who hasn’t played a game this season, underwent an epidural for his sore back while the Nets were in Orlando, according to Nash. There is no timeline for Simmons’ return, Nash said, as they are waiting to see if the procedure helps. When the Nets acquired Simmons at the trade deadline from the 76ers, they were hoping they could get a young All-Star to play alongside Irving and Durant. Simmons, who had been unhappy in Philadelphia, had not played a game while he was holding out for a trade. He began to ramp up his conditioning when he got to the Nets, but then apparently suffered a setback a couple of weeks ago when his back began to hurt . . . Seth Curry missed his third straight game with a sore left ankle.

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.