SALT LAKE CITY – Kyrie Irving has been a member of the Dallas Mavericks for less than two weeks. But he’s already
accomplished something no other member of the franchise ever has.
Irving poured in 32 points during Sunday night’s NBA All-Star game at Vivint Arena. That’s the most points any member of the Mavs has ever scored in an All-Star game, eclipsing the 29 points Rolando Blackman scored in the 1987 midseason classic.
Irving modestly said of his franchise-record performance: “I think it was just a low total, and Dirk (Nowitzki) wasn’t getting enough shots (during his team-record 14 All-Star appearances). We can call it any way you want.
“But I’m happy I can set that franchise record. I was just trying to come out here and have fun.”
Overall, Irving was 14-of-21 from the field – 4-of-8 from three-point land –and added six rebounds and a game-high 15 assists. The 15 assists are just the sixth time a player has recorded at least that many assists in an All-Star game.
While Irving was wheeling and dealing, teammate Luka Doncic finished with just four points, two rebounds and five assists, and was 2-of-5 from the floor and missed all three of his three-point attempts.
On being teammates with Irving in this game, Doncic said: “It was great, man. We had a lot of laughs. He’s a great guy. We talk a lot, so it was great to have him here.”
When Irving entered the interview room, he asked: “Is Luka in Cabo right now? I think he was doing his best to get his energy up for the game. You can’t blame him.
“He’s played a lot of minutes and he rightfully deserves a vacation. Hopefully, he’s on a plane already. I don’t know if he’s doing media (postgame interviews) right now.”
When told Doncic had completed his press conference, Irving said: “Get a nice beer for him on the plane in Cabo and we’ll see him on Wednesday.”
Team LeBron, who Irving and Doncic played on, lost to Team Giannis, 184-175, in a game filled with dunks, fancy plays, long three-pointers, half court shots and lots of layups sprinkled in with a minimumTo s of defense.
“I thought we were going to play a little bit more defense in the fourth quarter, but clearly that was non-existent,” Irving said. “I don’t think they heard anything I said in the media yesterday about us playing hard, but it doesn’t necessarily matter.
“As long as we got out of here healthy. Again, I would love to have more of a competitive environment where we don’t score 170. But hey, we’re all All-Stars, and guys just want to be healthy.”
By halftime, Irving had 19 points – more than ay other player. He also spent the lion’s share of the game getting his teammates involved in the offense. Meanwhile, Doncic said:
“Just being miked up and talking to the guy is something new, but it was fun, It’s always a pleasure to be an All-Star.”
To say the least, all the highlights were on the offensive end of the court. Irving had a sequence when he dribbled between his legs and whipped a pass to Jaylen Brown for a dunk, then fired a pass to Plano’s Julius
Randle for a dunk.
Earlier, he tossed a long pass to Doncic, who jumped in the air and tipped it to George, who finished with a dunk.
“Me personally, I was just trying to go have fun, get up and down (the floor) a little bit and get ready for what’s coming in the second half of the season and just leave out of here with the primary goal,” Irving said. “And that’s to be healthy, so I accomplished both.”
Boston’s Jayson Tatum won the Most Valuable Player award after he finished with 55 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The point total broke the record of 52 points that Anthony Davis scored in 2017. Tatum tallied 27 of his points in the third quarter.
Tatum received 11 of the 12 votes for the MVP, with Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who scored 40 points and collected 10 assists, receiving the other MVP vote.
During a few memorable moments late in the third quarter, Tatum and his Celtics’ teammate – Jaylen Brown – both decided to play one-on-one with each other. First, Brown scored when he was guarded by Tatum, Tatum then committed a turnover when he was guarded by Brown, and Brown subsequently fired in a three-pointer over Tatum, with Tatum answering with a three-pointer of his own over Brown.
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Irving said. “This is a celebration of all of us – everybody that plays the brand of basketball at such a high level for themselves and appreciates the players and what we do. I think it’s a great collaboration and effort by the NBA, the WNBA, the media, and all our fans across the whole entire world that support us. Without the fans and without us doing what we do, this wouldn’t be possible.”
JONES BROTHERS PLAYING HOCKEY: Former Mavs forward Popeye Jones thoroughly enjoyed himself in Salt Lake City this weekend, and for good reason.
Jones is an assistant coach on the staff of Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone. And that staff was coaching Team LeBron in Sunday’s All-Star game.
Jones also was enjoying himself for another reason. He has two sons who play for the Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League.
Seth Jones,28, is 6-4 and 220 pounds, and Caleb Jones, 25, is 6-1 and 195 pounds. Seth was the No. 4 overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft, and Caleb was the 117th overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft.
Popeye played for the Mavs from 1993-96 and again in 2002-03. But he also played for the Nuggets from 2000, and spent numerous years living in Denver — hence the hockey connection for his sons.
“I think when you’re in Denver, all you’ve got to do is look outside,” Popeye said. “When they were little kids when I played there, they started playing (hockey) with the kids in the neighborhood.
“Winter sports is big in Denver. I never could get them to switch (to basketball). They started playing (hockey) and they just ran with it and they didn’t want to play anything else.”
Both Seth and Caleb were born in Arlington, and Seth owns a home in North Dallas.
“They spend their summers in Dallas, and they train there,” Popeye said. “They do everything right — training, eating healthy, doing everything the right way — and it’s good to see.
“They follow the NBA, they’re huge fans, they watch a lot of games. They’re following us closely and know how well we’re playing this year.”
MCCLUNG A FAN FAVORITE: After he wowed the crowd Saturday night by winning the Slam Dunk contest with three perfect 50 scores, Philadelphia 76ers guard Mac McClung has suddenly become a fan favorite.
McClung’s performance generated a whopping 520 million views in the first 12 hours, which are the most ever for an All-Star Saturday night event.
Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said of McClung’s show-stopping performance: “It wasn’t a big surprise to me, because I’ve been watching him since he was in high school. But to see it on a bigger stage, it was definitely something that history will remember.
“He accomplished som
ething that I don’t think we even expected him to do, so for him to go beyond our expectations I’m really happy for him and happy for his family.”
McClung played for Texas Tech during the 2020-21 season.
BRIEFLY: For the first time, the NBA decided to have the two captains for the All-Star teams draft their roster less than an hour before Sunday’s game started. And here’s how it all went down. The captains were LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The reserves were drafted first, and Antetokounmpo drafted first and selected Damian Lillard, and James drafted next and chose Anthony Edwards. After the reserves were chosen, the starters were drafted. James drafted first and chose Joel Embiid, Antetokounmpo selected Jayson Tatum, James picked up Mavs guard Kyrie Irving, Antetokounmpo grabbed Ja Morant, followed by James drafting Mavs guard Luka Doncic, and Antetokounmpo choosing Donovan Mitchell. After that, James acquired Nikola Jokic and Antetokounmpo chose Lauri Markkanen with the last pick among the starters. Markkanen was named a starter after an injury kept Zion Williamson out of this game. A funny thing happened when Antetokounmpo tried to draft Morant with his third overall pick while the reserves were being selected. The only problem was, Morant was an All-Star starter. Everybody got a laugh, and Antetokounmpo instead drafted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander . . . Antetokounmpo scored the game’s first basket on a dunk, then he intentionally fouled Doncic with 11:40 left in the first quarter and left the game for good. Antetokounmpo injured his right wrist in the Milwaukee Bucks’ last game before the All-Star break . . . During a timeout at the 2:33 mark of the first quarter, TNT studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal led the fans as they sang Happy Birthday to TNT studio analyst Charles Barkley, who will turn 60 on Monday. . .Musicians in attendance Sunday include Janelle Monae, Jennifer Hudson, Fat Joe, Fabolous, G-Eazy, Burna Boy, Cordae, 21 Savage, Anuel AA, Jewel, Post Malone, Travis Scott, Ozuna, Tems, Slick Rick, Rema, Rick Ross, Kane Brown, Lil Baby and Jilly Black. Also on hand were film and television personalities Chris Tucker, Spike Lee, Guy Fieri, Jeremy Piven, Gabrielle Union, Simu Liu, Ranveer Singh, Sinqua Walls and Everett Osborne, and Olympic champion Lindsay Vonn. . .Pau Gasol won the Kobe and Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award. . . Jaylen Brown led Team LeBron with 35 points and 14 rebounds, and Joel Embiid had 32 points and seven boards. Damian Lillard poured in 26 points for Team Giannis, including a three-pointer that was launched beyond half court.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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