Mavs' Kyrie Irving 'Feels Good' After Injury Return vs. Sixers, Ready to Face Nets
BROOKLYN — Kyrie Irving returned to the Dallas Mavericks' lineup after a six-game injury absence caused by a right thumb sprain, helping lead a 118-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night. He finished with 23 points, eight assists, and five rebounds in 35 minutes.
"Feels good to get that game out the way," Irving said. "I got hit a few times, but, hey, that's that's what comes with being out there ready to battle with guys. Good to just get a rhythm, get this win, get this road trip started, and get prepared for Brooklyn tomorrow."
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The Sixers aggressively deployed double teams against Doncic to take the ball out of his hands, even when the Mavs were converting from the perimeter to take advantage of it. Irving appreciated how the offense stayed patient and consistently made quality decisions to counter it.
"We just took what the defense gave us. It felt like we made great decisions out of double teams," Irving said. "We accepted double teams, and we allowed our selflessness to carry us to lead in that fourth quarter."
"I think it was sort of a 9-point game, 7-point game, and then we hit a few threes, and they went into a zone and just took advantage of some of their mistakes on that end," Irving explained. "It felt good to be able to get Luka [Doncic] a catch-and-shoot, get Grant [Williams] a catch-and-shoot, get Josh [Green] a catch-and-shoot tonight. That's when I know the ball's hopping, and everybody's playing well, and we have a good rhythm."
After a sluggish start, the Mavs entered halftime trailing the Sixers 57-53, but Irving highlighted how the team adjusted after returning from the break — outscoring Philadelphia by a staggering 65-45 margin for the final two quarters. A strong conversion rate on tough short/mid-range jumpers that Dallas was willing to live with to protect the paint and contain on the perimeter partly made the Sixers successful early. Those shots didn't drop in the second half.
"I think the best teams in this league adjust on the fly and can go into halftime and make adjustments, then come out in the second half and really dominate teams," Irving said. "I think we did a good job of that tonight of being able to take the lead, with some minutes left to go on the third, and we didn't look back from that point.
"I think what we can learn from that is just to be able to weather the storm. They came out with a great rhythm. They were making a lot of tough two-point shots, and you just don't want to get discouraged when you're playing good defense, and they're making into the shot clock shots, or they're making some tough isolation shots, or they're making some open 3-pointers. Tonight was just about our patience and our resolve and just making sure we stay the course."
Given the success the Mavs achieved throughout the second half, Irving did not have to play for roughly half of the fourth quarter. With the Mavs having to play on a back-to-back and it being his return to competition, Irving appreciated the result.
"It feels good. It gets us ready for the game tomorrow," Irving said. "In situations like this, when you have a back-to-back, you want to be able to close out the games early in the third or early in the fourth. And then you did a good job of just creating that momentum for us to get some of our guys in towards the end of the game."
Irving is set to play at Barclays Center on Tuesday night for the first time since being traded by the Brooklyn Nets. The New Jersey native looks forward to playing in his former arena but doesn't view facing his former team as having a deeper meaning than the other opponents on the schedule.
"Excitement? Yeah. Excitement because I get to play back in Barclays," Irving said. "But outside of that, there's nothing deeper to look into, and I think we need to do a better job of that by not making it something else other than sports."
