Kyrie Irving: It felt awkward playing against Lakers’ Luka Dončić

LOS ANGELES – Awkward.

That’s the word Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving used to describe his first meeting against Luka Dončić since the latter was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2.

Irving has been playing alongside Dončić in the Mavs’ backcourt for the past two years. The two had become fast friends. Their families socialized together.

But now, while Irving’s and Dončić’s goals are the same – they’re trying to reach them while they’re no longer teammates.

“It was awkward, but now I can talk about the emotions,” Irving said after the Lakers upended the Mavs, 107-99, on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. “It was awkward, but at the same time it was fun. We got a chance to feel like we were in practice all over again going at each other. That was a good reflection point.

“And then seeing the crowd cheer for him and just get him going and see him make some of the tough shots that I’ve seen him make thousands of times. That probably made it even more awkward. But it was fun. It was fun competing.”

Irving finished with a game-high 35 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. He was 12-of-27 from the field and 5-of-11 from three-point land in 40 minutes.

Dončić collected a triple-double – 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists – and also had three steals and two blocks. But he was only 6-of-17 from the field, including just 1-of-7 from downtown in 35 minutes, and also picked up a technical foul early in the first quarter.

After the game, there was a whole lot of hugging going on between the Mavs and Dončić.

In addition, it was crystal clear that the drama of the night was going to be about how Dončić was going to perform against the team that he played for during the first six-and-a-half years of his career.

“It was strange, but he’s a competitive guy and so are we, so it was fun to battle,” Mavs forward Klay Thompson said. “I know we’ll see him at least one more time, maybe twice.

“It was strange at first. But once you run up the court a couple of times, it’s just another basketball game.”

Dončić said his teammates were supportive of him, knowing how emotional he was after he discovered he would no longer be playing for the Mavs.

“I saw Doe-Doe (former Mavs forward Dorian Finney-Smith now with the Lakers) saying, ‘We got his back,’ and it was amazing,” Dončić said. “They tried to push and push me. I know I didn’t play great. But we got the win.”

An overflow of media attended Tuesday’s game, perhaps to see if Dončić would have one of those iconic games that he turned in so many times for the Mavs.

“There’s a lot of attention on this one game, but the train keeps moving,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said before the game. “(Dončić is) one of the best players in the world and the Lakers are fortunate to have him.

“He is the game plan, he is the Picasso, he’s going to paint beautiful paintings. He’s one of the best players in the world.”

Kidd went on to say of Dončić: “It’s good that he’s smiling here of late. Just understanding the business of basketball can be shocking. (The trade) was shocking to the world, but you have to move forward, you have to push forward.”

Irving revealed how he and Dončić developed a close relationship when the Mavs played preseason games in Abu Dhabi and Madrid.

“When you’re on the road and you get to know someone and their family, and you’re introducing everybody to your friends. . .Madrid was like very special, because that’s where (Dončić) played,” Irving said. “I got a chance to see some of his friends and some of his support system out there, and I think that just carried over into the season.

“He was in great spirits coming into last season and it was easy to compliment him while he was having an MVP-caliber season. Playing with him, he’s just an innocent kid, but at the same time he’s ultra-talented, the world’s in front of him. You want to protect people like that, too, because I feel like sometimes people come at him crazy, which is unnecessary, and he responds in his own way.”

The Mavs came at Dončić with double-teams on multiple occasions. It was their way of taking the ball out of his hands and forcing him to try and beat them with his passing instead of with his scoring.

Kidd said he thought his team did a great job handling all the hoopla and emotions wrapped into facing Dončić for the first time.

“I thought he picked his spots, he was able to find his teammates, he was Luka,” Kidd said. “He drove it, he made plays, and then also finished.

“He probably had some looks that normally go down for him. But he fills up the stat sheet like no other player. He found his teammates and his teammates delivered tonight.”

While the Mavs came out on the short end, Irving acknowledged that there were “a lot of high-level basketball players out there, a lot of high-level plays. High IQ plays. It’s what you want to be a part of as a competitor.

“And you could tell (Laker coach) JJ Redick was trying to prepare the guys emotionally, especially Luka, and I feel like (Dončić) handled himself well. It was a good show out in LA, two good teams.”

BRIEFLY: During the first timeout, the Lakers showed a video tribute to Mavs forward Anthony Davis on the overhead video board. Davis played for the Lakers from 2019 until they traded him to the Mavs. Davis helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA title . . . Mavs center Dwight Powell played for the first time since he strained his right hip on Jan. 17 against Oklahoma City. Powell played 16 minutes and finished with two points, five rebounds and one blocked shot.

X: @DwainPrice