NEW YORK– Less than a month after he suffered a strained left adductor, Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis watched teammate
Kyrie Irving sustain a season-ending tear of his left anterior cruciate ligament.
Reflecting on Irving’s injury following Monday’s 120-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, Davis said: “It was devastating. Kyrie is a phenomenal basketball player, but even more, a phenomenal human.
“Anytime anyone goes down to an injury like that it always sucks.”
Davis waited a bit before he contacted Irving about the injury. He wanted to give the mercurial guard time to digest all of the circumstances surrounding his injury.
“Obviously, the initial injury in the initial moment you want to give him space,” Davis said. “He came back to the locker room, got everything out of his system and was excited about the rehab process.
“He’s in a good head space.”
Irving attended Monday’s game and was cheering on the Mavs every step of the way. And Davis is anticipating the day when Irving will return to the lineup at some point next season.
“He’s been around the team,” Davis said. “He was on the bench tonight. So, to see him in a great head space is good for our 
team, good for me and I’m pretty sure it’s good for him.
“Obviously, (Irving’s injury) sucks. But we’ve got to hold the fort down for this season, and then until next season until he’s ready to come back.”
The Mavs desperately tried to hold down the fort until Davis returned on Monday. They produced a 6-12 record while Davis was sidelined, but quickly got back on track against the Nets.
“It’s AD,” forward Naji Marshall said. “He’s going to find his own shots (and) he’s going to find the ball. He trusts in us, just like coach. So, we just go out there and play.”
Here are the takeaways from the Mavs’ 19-point win over the Nets.
DAVIS MADE A TRIUMPHANT RETURN: Much to the delight of the Mavs, Davis 
returned to the lineup and responded with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 27 minutes. It was the first game for Davis since he strained his left adductor after scoring 26 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, distributing seven assists and blocking three shots during the Feb 8 game against the Houston Rockets.
WHEREVER HE PLAYS, MARSHALL IS A BALLER: Mavs forward Naji Marshall proved to be just as comfortable coming off the bench as he is when he’s in the starting lineup. Marshall came off the bench on Monday and finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shots in just 27 minutes. It was Marshall’s first time coming off the bench since he collected 18 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals during the March 3 game against the Sacramento Kings.
MAVS LOOKED VERY COMFORTABLE: With Davis back in the lineup, the Mavs looked very comfortable from top to bottom. For starters, the Mavs were able to form a tall lineup with Kai Jones (6-11) at center, P.J. Washington (6-7) at small forward and Davis (6-10) at power forward. That also meant the Mavs were going to be able to get their fair share of rebounds, and they promptly wound up outrebounding the Nets, 41-37. In addition, it meant the Mavs were going to have more rim protection.
X: @DwainPrice
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