BROOKLYN – Exactly a year to the day after being traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks, Kyrie Irving
returned to his old stomping grounds.
And what a triumphant return it was.
Playing through a smattering of boos throughout the game, Irving fed off the crowd and scored a game-high 36 points as the Mavs shut up the Nets and prevailed, 119-107. The win padded the Mavs’ record to 28-23, including a perfect 2-0 on this three-game road trip that concludes with Thursday’s game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
A New Jersey kid, Irving let the crowd know from the start that he was here to take care of some business. Irving scored nine points in the first quarter and had already tallied 21 points midway through the second quarter.
“It felt like I was home tonight,” said Irving, who was 15-of-24 from the field, including 6-of-10 from behind the three-point line. “Getting here early, warming up, just getting a good sense of the rims and the atmosphere and what it’s going to be like, and just mentally preparing myself for the game, just letting the game come to me and allowing the basketball gods to do the rest.
“I tried to get as much sleep yesterday and come in with an open heart, an open mind to see a lot of my friends and family that I’ve made here and put on a great show for them.”
Irving played for the Nets from 2019 until they traded him and Markieff Morris to the Mavs on Feb. 6, 2023 for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2027 and 29. Apparently, the Nets’ fans felt a certain kind of way towards Irving, who was in attack mode all night.
“His emotions are as good as they come,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “He uses the crowd, he uses his teammates, and I thought he did a great job of that tonight.
“He just let the game come to him, just like he did (Monday) night in Philly. And that’s what, as a vet, as a superstar, there’s never a panic in his game. He just uses the forces around him and I thought he did a great job tonight.”
After the Nets whittled a 23-point deficit down to six points, it was Irving who restored order by banging in back-to-back three-pointers to kick the Mavs’ lead to 113-101 with just over four minutes left. And when Josh Green snuffed out another Nets’ rally with a three-pointer that boosted the Mavs’ lead to 116-105 with 2:05 left, the Mavs knew they were on the verge of winning both ends of a back-to-back for the third time this season.
“I thought the guys kept their composure (and) trusted one another,” Kidd said. “There’s a lot of great things now, and now we won another game on a back-to-back. Against a dangerous team like the Nets, it’s a good win.”
Certainly, Luka Dončić did his part to make sure the Mavs were not going to lose to a Nets team that’s 20-30. Dončić put on another wonderful performance by finishing with 35 points, 18 rebounds, nine assists and two steals in 43 minutes.
All of this came one night after Dončić suffered a nasal contusion after he was whacked in the face against the 76ers. Dončić started the game wearing a mask, but quickly ditched it at the first timeout.
“It was Maxi (Kleber’s mask), actually,” Dončić said. “My (nose issue) just happened (Monday), so I couldn’t fit in Maxi’s.
“It bothered me a little bit. It’s hard to breathe through your nose.”
Dončić dropped in a three-pointer just before halftime to give the Mavs a 65-47 lead at the game’s midway point. Then, as the third quarter was winding to a close, Grant Williams drained a three-pointer, and Dončić chipped in with consecutive three-pointer to increase the Mavs lead to 95-75.
“Talking to (Dončić) on the plane (Monday) night, he felt good,” Kidd said. “He didn’t have to do much (Monday) – being double-teamed. He just said that the only issue he had was breathing with his nose.
“But every time I asked him if he wanted to come out he just said I felt great, so we trusted him and left him in and he delivered. Both Luka and Kai 
said they felt fresh and said they wanted to go. If Luka didn’t want to come out, he was not going to come out.”
Irving was in such a joyful mood that he actually took a lob from Green and skied hig for an alley-oop dunk that got the crowd buzzing.
“He actually called for (he lob dunk) in the timeout, and I just told Josh let’s stick to a bounce pass,” Kidd said. “So, they made sure to let me know that he can still get up there, because he wanted that in the timeout.
“I thought he was being funny, but he was not being funny. Josh had the heart to throw that pass and Kai did the rest.”
Irving credits Green for making it all happen.
“Josh threw a perfect pass,” Irving said. “He had the belief in me. A lot of my teammates didn’t think that I could catch lobs. I told them to look at my
summer highlights.
“It felt good to get up there and convert that dunk. It’s not too often you see me dunk, so I’m grateful that I got a highlight.”
It was a night filled with highlights from Irving.
“I’m a New Jersey kid all the way through and through,” he said. “I played a lot of games in the city, I played in all the boroughs.
“I have a lot of family in New York City, a lot of foundational growth. I spent a lot of my childhood in the Bronx. Everything that I’ve learned about myself has come from being in the city and being in Jersey.”
And one thing the Nets’ fans learned about Irving is, don’t poke the bear.
“It’s not easy coming back to a place that you were traded from for the first time,” Kidd said. “A lot of emotions, but I thought (Irving) handled it well.
“To be able to score that many points without shooting a free throw, that’s really impressive. Also for Kai, his first time here, we wanted to make sure things went the way he wanted, so we made sure of that.”
KLEBER BACK IN THE SADDLE: After sitting over half the season while nursing a small right toe dislocation, forward Maxi Kleber appears to be rounding into form.
Kleber scored a total of 35 points on 14-of-19 shooting during games Saturday and Monday against Milwaukee and Philadelphia.
“Maxi’s playing at a very high level offensively and defensively, and this is what we expected,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ve been around him
for three years now, and just understanding what he means to us defensively
“Not that he’s guarding his guy, but he is helping everyone on the floor to blocking shots, to rebounding to guarding one-on-one, or he’s on the help side. And then you look at the offensive end, his ability to stretch the defense, and now he’s added the dribble where he can drive to the basket or pull up for the (mid-range jumper). Again, he’s playing at a high level right now and we need him to continue to do that.”
Kidd also said Kleber hasn’t been experiencing about difficulties with his toe.
“He’s doing fine,” Kidd said. “He could be sore. I think everyone’s sore this time of the year, but there’s nothing where he feels he should sit.”
BRIEFLY: Kidd said rookie center Dereck Lively II most likely will not be joining the Mavs in New York on Thursday in time for the game against the Knicks. “We’ll make that decision (Wednesday),” Kidd said. “But I think it’s leaning towards he won’t be on this trip.” Lively underwent a procedure on Monday to prepare his fractured nose. . .Brooklyn Nets coach Jacque Vaughn was talking about Ben Simmons and suddenly the conversation shifted to fans of Taylor Swift and Beyonce. “The last time y’all asked me about starting (Simmons) I got backlashed for that, too,” Vaughn said. “All the Swifties and the Beyhives are going to come get me.” . . . In speaking about Kyrie Irving, Vaughn said: “What I do know from my time with Kai is the tremendous amount of respect that he and I have for each other. It was a joy for me to coach him. He is an unbelievable basketball player, and we had some success together.” . . . Vaughn said former Mavs forward Drian Finney-Smith was bothered by not being able to play Tuesday against the Mavs. “I think overall he’s just been disappointed he hasn’t been able to play for us,” Vaughn said. “He’s one of our guys who really enjoys playing and battling, and fortunately he hasn’t been able to. We miss him.” Finney-Smith played for the Mavs from 2016 until they traded him to the Nets a year ago in the Kyrie Irving trade. Finney-Smith currently is dealing with a sprained left ankle.
X: @DwainPrice
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