KIrving's instant impact! Kyrie leads the Dallas Mavericks to victory on his 'incredible' debut as he scores 24 points following his trade from the Brooklyn Nets - taking on the mantle with Luka Doncic sidelined
247-Sports-HD
2023-02-09
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Kyrie Irving scored 24 points on his Dallas Mavericks debut in a 110-104 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Irving, 30, joined the Mavericks in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
Irving top scored for the Mavs and equaled the highest score on the floor, just one night after former teammate LeBron James leapt to the NBA's all-time leading scorer and days after leaving Brooklyn.
Without superstar Luka Doncic, Irving took control of the Texas franchise, adding seven rebounds and an assist to his tally.
While the pair may have to wait to team up, the former Nets star is looking to create a formidable partnership with Doncic.
'Just some high-level IQ basketball,' Irving said of what he's most looking forward to.
'It's simple when you play with guys that are selfless and do the little things. They don't mind other guys being aggressive out there.'
Earlier Wednesday, Irving and Doncic first met as teammates, admitting their new partnership is 'great.'
'You can see how good he is. So, I think this should be fun for us,' Doncic told ESPN during the first quarter.
'Obviously, the expectations are bigger now... but we just gotta make it work and I think we will.'
The 30-year-old did little to dampen expectations which have many in big D dreaming of another championship, though postgame he wasn't interested in hyping up those hopes.
'Just take it day-by-day, honestly. I'm just trying to get acclimated, as I said, and get everybody healthy. We'll see where we go from there,' Irving added.
Before Irving exited the floor, he gave his debut jersey to the onlooking Floyd Mayweather, who was in attendance at Crypto.com Arena.
It seems as if his Dallas debut could not have gone much better, with head coach Jason Kidd also singing Irving's praises postgame.
'Knowing Ky and just understanding his skill set and the new atmosphere, he’s excited to be here,' he said.
'His leadership down the stretch of getting everyone organized… a lot of great stuff as we build on this new journey with him. It’s going to be fun.'
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins added to the Irving eulogy, tweeting: 'Good luck to any team in the Western Conference trying to stop a Happy Kyrie Irving and Skinny Luka in the postseason. Real Talk!'
Irving top scored for the Mavs and equaled the highest score on the floor, just one night after former teammate LeBron James leapt to the NBA's all-time leading scorer and days after leaving Brooklyn.
Without superstar Luka Doncic, Irving took control of the Texas franchise, adding seven rebounds and an assist to his tally.
While the pair may have to wait to team up, the former Nets star is looking to create a formidable partnership with Doncic.
'Just some high-level IQ basketball,' Irving said of what he's most looking forward to.
'It's simple when you play with guys that are selfless and do the little things. They don't mind other guys being aggressive out there.'
Earlier Wednesday, Irving and Doncic first met as teammates, admitting their new partnership is 'great.'
'You can see how good he is. So, I think this should be fun for us,' Doncic told ESPN during the first quarter.
'Obviously, the expectations are bigger now... but we just gotta make it work and I think we will.'
The 30-year-old did little to dampen expectations which have many in big D dreaming of another championship, though postgame he wasn't interested in hyping up those hopes.
'Just take it day-by-day, honestly. I'm just trying to get acclimated, as I said, and get everybody healthy. We'll see where we go from there,' Irving added.
Before Irving exited the floor, he gave his debut jersey to the onlooking Floyd Mayweather, who was in attendance at Crypto.com Arena.
It seems as if his Dallas debut could not have gone much better, with head coach Jason Kidd also singing Irving's praises postgame.
'Knowing Ky and just understanding his skill set and the new atmosphere, he’s excited to be here,' he said.
'His leadership down the stretch of getting everyone organized… a lot of great stuff as we build on this new journey with him. It’s going to be fun.'
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins added to the Irving eulogy, tweeting: 'Good luck to any team in the Western Conference trying to stop a Happy Kyrie Irving and Skinny Luka in the postseason. Real Talk!'
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