Irving bounced back with major performance against Sixers

Kyrie Irving went into Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers after posting his lowest scoring game during his brief tenure with the Dallas Mavericks. But he sure knew how to make a neat recovery.

After scoring just 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting during Tuesday’s 124-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Irving rebounded nicely by scoring 40 points on 15-of-22 shots against the Sixers. It was Irving’s highest scoring game since the Mavs acquired him in a Feb. 6 trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

Meanwhile, coach Jason Kidd knew it was in the cards that Irving wouldn’t let what transpired against the Pacers happen again.

“I think in his career he doesn’t have back-to-back bad games,” Kidd said following Friday’s practice. “I think he said it best — he wanted to join the party.”

Kidd knew Irving had a deep desire to join the party when he normally would sit out the last four or five minutes of the third quarter, but he talked Kidd into allowing him to play nine minutes and five seconds of the third quarter.

“He was at a high level,” Kidd said. “With our rotations of getting him out, he asked to stay in.

“Whenever a player does that, you know they’re going in a direction that they’re going to help you win or put your team in position to win. That’s just who he is. He’s a pro.”

Kidd also pointed out that Irving doesn’t mind getting in the middle of the heavy traffic and set screens, enabling his teammates to get some wide open looks at the basket. In addition, he acknowledged that as the Mavs move forward, getting Luka Doncic and Irving paired in some pick-and-rolls should be advantageous for the Mavs.

“He loves to screen,” Kidd said of Irving. “He’s not afraid to screen to get someone open. As the season continues, we’ll get (Irving and Doncic) in a little bit more pick-and-rolls just to see what the defense is going to do.

“And then also, it just creates a problem because of the gravity of the double-team. You don’t double-team off of Kai onto Luka. Kai’s playmaking skills and also his shooting skills are just too good.”

The same can be said of Doncic, who poured in 42 points on 13-of-22 shots during Thursday’s 133-126 victory over the Sixers.

“It was a hard-fought game and we did everything to make sure we were poised down the stretch,” Irving said. “We were just paying attention to the game plan.

“There’s been a few losses over the last weeks where we felt like they were winnable games. It’s definitely a different approach (Thursday) for us as a team, because we really wanted this (win over the Sixers). I really wanted this.”

The Mavs wound up tying a franchise record against the Sixers with 25 made three-pointers – in 48 attempts. Irving was a sizzling 6-of-8 from three-point land, and Doncic was a hot 7-of-13 from downtown, while the Mavs overall shot 54.9 percent from the field.

“I think against a really good team in the Sixers, to be able to get those shots with Kai and Luka being able to get in the paint or being able to create their own shot, I thought just the threes were quality great looks that we got in the first half,” Kidd said. “But in the second half we got the same shots, and Reggie (Bullock) knocked his down that helped us build that lead.”

Bullock wound up converting 5-of-10 shots from three-point territory, and his critical sharp-shooting and 15 points almost got lost in the shuffle because of the dominating performances by Doncic and Irving.

“It’s easy to do when two guys score 82 points,” Kidd said. “I think when you saw LD was at a high level, Kai was at a high level, but I think the guys that played with them are going to see that they’re going to get wide open looks because of the double-teams.

“I think as long as we continue to keep working on that and keep playing a little bit faster, I think it helps us.”

KIDD CONCERNED ABOUT BLOWN LEAD: Of course, coach Jason Kidd was delighted his team was able to wipe out a two-game losing streak with Thursday’s triumph over the 76ers.

However, the path that the Mavs traveled to the winner’s circle concerns Kidd. Particularly, what took place at the start of the fourth quarter that made every Mavs’ fan inside and outside of American Airlines a little uneasy.

After building a 107-82 lead late in the third quarter, the Mavs toted a 110-91 lead into the fourth quarter. However, the Sixers tallied the first 15 points of the fourth quarter to inch to within 110-106 of the Mavs less than three minutes into the final quarter.

That was reminiscent of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers when the Mavs built a 27-point lead in the third quarter, then went on to lose that contest, 111-108.

“It was a tough lineup to watch,” Kidd said. “It’s just like the Lakers’ game in a sense of turnovers, live ball turnovers. It went from a 19-point lead to a (lead of) 10 (points) there in two minutes.

“We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. And then defensively, it’s hard to guard live ball turnovers with no one back on defense. And then the other part is we’re giving up too many and-ones. Not just three-point shots, but the and-ones do count as three points.”

MAVS FACE NEW-LOOK SUNS: The Mavs (33-31) will host the new-look Phoenix Suns (35-29) on Sunday at noon.

The Suns acquired 13-time All-Star forward Kevin Durant in a Feb. 9 trade with the Brooklyn Nets. That trade has several analysts predicting the Suns are now in prime position to capture their first-ever NBA championship.

Especially since Durant joins three-time All-Star guard Devin Booker and 12-time All-Star guard Chris Paul.

“They’re different than the last three times we played them,” coach Jason Kidd said. “They’ve got All-Stars at three positions. I should say it could be four with (center Deandre) Ayton.

“You look at Chris Paul, Booker and Ayton and KD, they’re really good and they’re well-coached. This is going to be a good test for us.”

Ironically, less than a month ago Mavs guard Kyrie Irving and Durant were teammates with the Nets. Now they’re both vying for the same thing on different teams – a spot representing the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.

Twitter: @DwainPrice