Irving leads the Mavs to victory:
Despite being traded almost a year ago, Kyrie Irving has never truly left New York.
Not when he was a Nets fan growing up here, and not when so many of his loved ones were present on Tuesday night.
He put on quite a show for them.
After guiding the Mavericks to a 119-107 victory with 36 points, Irving spent time in the stands signing autographs and interacting with his former supporters.
Irving stated, "It felt like I was home tonight—just like any other basketball game."
During the second half, as the Mavericks' guard tandem attempted to rally the Nets, Luka Doncic led them with 35 points, 18 rebounds, and nine assists. Doncic narrowly missed his 10th triple-double of the season after taking off the mask he wore to start the game to preserve a nasal contusion.
When Irving first touched the ball, they booed him. However, they cheered him on when he finished a dazzling drive for a layup as a substitute or made one of his six 3-pointers. In the third quarter, Irving particularly received applause when he climbed high to slam down a lob pass.
"That was amazing. That was impressive," regarding the play, Doncic claimed that Irving signalled to Josh Green that he may stand up to receive the ball.
Irving, whose 14 40-point games rank second only to Vince Carter in Nets franchise history, came close to scoring one against Brooklyn on Monday night after missing six games due to a sprained right thumb. Irving was playing in the team's victory against Philadelphia on Monday.
With almost five minutes left, the shorthanded Nets cut a 23-point deficit to 107-101 thanks to contributions from Mikal Bridges (28 points) and Royce O'Neal (18 points). However, Irving then made two straight 3-pointers to give the team a 113-101 advantage.
“It’s tough. Ky has the extreme ability to shoot-make versus anyone and I thought he had some timely buckets for that group,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said.
Ben Simmons of Brooklyn finished Monday's game against Golden State with nine points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
Jason Kidd, the coach of the Mavericks, stated that Irving has provided a soothing influence for the youthful Dallas players; nevertheless, calm wasn't the term that best described his stay in Brooklyn. In his three-and-a-half seasons, he played in just 143 games. He missed time during one season due to a leave of absence, and almost all of the home games in another due to his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, which is required in New York City. Finally, the team suspended him last season for refusing to apologise after he shared a link to an antisemitic piece on social media.
Irving wanted the homecoming to end by the midpoint of the previous season because of the way his connection with the club had gotten worse. Days after trading Irving, the Nets, who had already decided against offering him a contract extension the previous summer, dealt away Kevin Durant, bringing an end to an era full of promise when the All-Stars united in 2019.
When Durant made his first return last week, he was given a commemorative film, but there was none. Instead, before the starting lineups were revealed, the Nets welcomed the three former Nets back to Brooklyn with pictures of Irving, Seth Curry, and Markieff Morris displayed on the overhead video board.
After one quarter, Dallas led 31–24. In the second, the margin swiftly grew to double digits as Irving made his first four shots, including two 3-pointers, for 10 points. The Mavs led by 65 points to 47 at the half.
After the Mavericks scored their first five points of the second half, Vaughn called a timeout 46 seconds into the game after his teammates let Irving make a wide-open 3-pointer that put the score at 70-47.
Late in the third quarter, the Nets had narrowed the lead to nine, but Doncic made back-to-back 3-pointers from 30 and 36 feet, putting Dallas up to 95-77.
Next up
Mavericks: This Thursday, travel to New York.
Nets: Play Cleveland at home on Thursday.