Mavs-Pistons preview: After All-Star snub, Irving could be ready to cook

DETROIT – Apparently, ranking among the NBA’s best in scoring and three-point shooting while keeping your team afloat during a gauntlet of injuries isn’t enough to make the All-Star Game.

Kyrie Irving was snubbed on Thursday when the All-Star reserves were announced for the Western and Eastern conferences.

The coaches in each conference did the voting.

Irving had a strong argument on his side based not only on his statistics, but his leadership and stability that have helped keep the Mavericks above .500 while the debilitating injury luck has sabotaged their ability to find any consistency with their lineups.

Irving is in the top 20 in both scoring (24.2 points) and three-point shooting (42.2 percent) and has been remarkably consistent through the first 48 games of the season, in which the Mavericks are 26-22 despite losing Luka Dončić for 26 games and every other member of their preferred starting lineup for at least seven games.

“We’ve asked him to do a lot of things and he’s never said no,” coach Jason Kidd said of Irving. “He’s been there through the wins and losses. He understands the journey and that’s to win a championship. We’re lucky to have him.”

Irving has been an All-Star eight times in his previous 13 seasons – four times with Cleveland, twice with Boston and twice with Brooklyn, including the 2022-23 season when he was traded to the Mavericks after being named an Eastern Conference All-Star.

Perhaps Irving will take out any frustration against the Detroit Pistons, who the Mavericks visit on Friday.

The Mavericks will be eyeing their third win in a row and will be facing a Detroit team that is not the same old Detroit team.

The Pistons have turned a corner in terms of being competitive. After missing the playoffs for five consecutive seasons and averaging just 19 wins in those seasons, the Pistons are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and have a legitimate shot to make the playoffs.

Here’s what else to look for as the Mavericks’ five-game trip continues in Motown:

• The Pistons have been playing well, but stumbled recently. They just finished a five-game trip that started with wins in Houston and Atlanta, but ended with losses at Orlando, Cleveland and Indiana.
• They are led by former No. 1 overall draft pick Cade Cunningham, who will be making his first All-Star appearance after being named an Eastern Conference reserve on Thursday. The 6-6 point guard is averaging 25 points, 9.3 assists and 6.4 rebounds per game.
• Shooting guard Jaden Ivey (17.6 points per game) is out after having leg surgery earlier this month.
• The Pistons are getting good mileage out of former Maverick Tim Hardaway Jr., who is averaging 10.9 points and shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range.
• The Mavericks announced on Thursday that Maxi Kleber had surgery to repair a right foot fracture that he sustained against Boston last week. Updates will come when appropriate.
• The Mavericks got their longest trip of the season started the right way with a 137-136 win in New Orleans, but the level of competition rises significantly against the Pistons and then with Sunday’s visit to Cleveland across Lake Erie.
• J. Washington has been a terror of late, averaging 19.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in the last eight games.
• Quentin Grimes will be returning to Detroit, but considering he only played six games for the Pistons after getting traded there from New York, it’s likely not a tearful moment. But the way Grimes has played of late might make his former team cry. He has averaged 15.3 points in the past three games and is coming off a 17-point outing Wednesday at New Orleans. He hit three of five three-pointers in that game.
• The Mavericks are favored according to ESPNBET by 1½ points and the over/under is 230.5 points.

DALLAS MAVERICKS (26-22) at DETROIT PISTONS (23-24)

WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday.

WHERE: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.

TV: KFAA 29, MAVSTV STREAM.

RADIO: KEGL 97.1 FM, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @ESefko