NEW ORLEANS – After 10 games of the Mavericks season, Kyrie Irving is doing what a lot of people thought might not be possible.
He’s dominating for the Mavericks.
While still allowing this to be Luka’s team.
It was made clear from the day the Mavericks traded for Irving last season that this would continue to be a team built around the generational talents of Luka Dončić.
Irving understood that coming in.
And now, he’s walking the walk.
In the last four games, he’s averaged 26.3 points, 6.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds. That’s not just being a good lieutenant to Luka. That’s being the consummate 1-A to Luka’s 1. And by the way, in those four games, Luka has averaged 33.4 points.
A game like Sunday’s 136-124 triumph over New Orleans makes all of us understand better just what has made Irving an eight-time All-Star. He was seamless with Luka. They combined for 65 points and only three turnovers. The Mavericks only had six giveaways overall. Whether it was Irving or Dončić running the offense, it worked smoothly.
“You can see he’s starting to catch a rhythm, which is always good to see,” coach Jason Kidd said of Irving. “It makes the game easier for everyone. Between the two guys who handle the ball most to only have three turnovers, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. We’re getting good looks. Those two are getting good looks. It was a good night.”
And for Irving, the past week has been a confirmation that he has fought through some fatigue that bothered him in the first few games of the season.
He explained after Sunday’s win what it’s been like.
“When you come into a high-level competitive environment like the NBA, it’s physical combat every day, whether you’re in shootaround, practices,” he said. “So when you’re body’s taking that much contact you just don’t know when it’s going to feel 100 percent again.
“And the days in between can feel shortened. The hours come and they go, the games come and they go, but to feel like my body’s balanced on my jump shots or my drives and I’m able to be physical on both ends and I’m not thinking about (things), it enables you to play with a liberation, really.”
He’s had that liberated feeling lately.
“You want to make an impact out there,” Irving said. “As a competitor, you want to go out there and have a great game every single time. But (sometimes) it’s just not happening.
“I didn’t start the season off the way I wanted to . . . it took me a little time to figure out. And now we’re here.”
Yes, here we are with the Mavericks at 8-2 and coming off of two huge offensive games after that still-nagging loss to Toronto at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.
Irving said the Mavericks are working together these days the way a team is supposed to be working together. Every professional sports team will always have players who believe they should have a bigger role.
But when teams are mature enough to work regardless of their situation, those are the teams that have the best chance of success.
“We have roles we’re establishing, but we also can play other roles on this team,” Irving said. “That’s part of the diversity we have in our locker room is just having guys who can do other good things that complement our team well and still keep team first. Obviously, minutes are going to differentiate. But what’s consistent is our attitude. Whatever minutes you’re in there, the attitude is: make an impact and be proud that you’re making a positive impact on the team. And if you’re not, then you got to give your teammate a chance to go do that. It’s healthy.
“And it’s not like we forgot about the Raptors beating us.”
With that, here’s a few takeaways from the Mavericks’ 136-124 victory over the Pelicans:
Defying odds with low turnovers: The Mavericks took 102 shots against the Pelicans. They played ultra-fast. They scored 136 points. They had just six turnovers. That’s remarkable. The Pelicans scored just six points off of those six miscues. The Mavericks, meanwhile, rolled up 22 points on 18 New Orleans turnovers. The Mavericks are running up and down the court and not turning the ball over. That’s been a key in scoring 280 points in the last two games. “We’re pushing the pace really well, something in the last couple of seasons we haven’t done,” said Josh Green, who had 13 points off the bench. “I don’t know where we rank in pace (fifth in the NBA), but it’s been a big emphasis for us starting from training camp and everybody’s bought into it. I think it’s benefiting everybody. It’s a lot of fun to play.” Said Irving: “It’s easy to play that way when you’re not turning the ball over, you’re keeping other teams off the free-throw line, you’re getting stops consecutively and you have spurts of four or five minutes where a play isn’t being called. It’s just constant pace, running to our spots. Individually, we have talent. But collectively, when we’re all hitting on cylinders like that, you can see a result like that. Definitely easy pace to play.” Now, the only question is to do it on a regular basis.
Strong numbers: The Mavericks outscored the Pelicans 30-13 in fast break points and 54-48 in points in the paint.
Wrong numbers: They were outrebounded by the Pelicans 54-42.
X: @ESefko
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