In a game of dueling brilliance between Nikola Jokic and Kyrie Irving, neither delivered the deciding punch.

Michael Porter Jr. attacked a closeout and sunk a go-ahead 14-footer with 6.5 seconds left to lift the Nuggets to a 122-120 victory against the Mavericks on Sunday, capping a flawless five-game homestand.

Jokic had 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists, the 11th and second 35-15-15 games in NBA regular season history. Irving scored 43 points while shooting 17 of 22 from the field. His only two missed 3-pointers were the last two. Peyton Watson challenged one of them, giving Denver (7-3) a chance to break the deadlock. Christian Braun contested the other as time ran out.

With 49 seconds left, Jokic tipped in his own miss to tie the game and set up Denver’s seventh regulation-ending win.

Watson continued to shine in Aaron Gordon’s absence as a starter, converting all four 3-pointers en way to 16 points. Porter scored 13 of his 17 points in the opening quarter. Jamal Murray scored thirteen of his eighteen points in the second half. Julian Strawther added 12 off the bench.

For a brief time, it appeared like the Nuggets’ healthy balance might be insufficient to overcome Irving’s one-of-a-kind performance. He lit up Denver’s second unit in the fourth quarter with three fast long-range jumpers, transforming the Mavericks’ three-point deficit into a three-point advantage. Nobody could stop him from getting to his spots, not Braun or the supporting cast Denver attempted to surround Irving with.

However, Luka Doncic was restricted to 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, while new Maverick Klay Thompson only scored 10 points.

The Nuggets more or less weathered a more than six-minute stretch with Jokic on the bench and Doncic on the court at the start of the second quarter. It was tough at first. Russell Westbrook made two turnovers that led to easy points, while Zeke Nnaji missed a pair of free throws. However, the window was extended by a paucity of dead balls as Jokic moved to the scorer’s table, and Denver recovered five consecutive points from Watson and Strawther.

Dallas won the minutes 19-14, but the Nuggets maintained the lead as Jokic and Doncic switched places. They simply couldn’t protect it for the rest of the half. Irving began moving around Braun and making difficult shots. Murray made a few poor decisions, and he didn’t offer his typical shot-making to make up for it. At halftime, Denver led Dallas by 15 points from the perimeter while trailing by 16 in the paint.

Zeke Nnaji played 10 minutes in his fourth consecutive game as Malone’s backup five, following Dario Saric’s season-opening start.

The Nuggets have four days off before heading to New Orleans on Friday to begin a three-game road trip. It will be the first of four group-stage games in the in-season event, which is currently known as the Emirates NBA Cup.