Kyrie Irving on Monday night did what All-Stars are supposed to do. He put his fingerprints all over a game that came down to the wire.
Unfortunately, neither he nor the Mavericks got the payoff.
He impacted the Mavericks’ 129-128 loss to the Sacramento Kings with not only his scoring (30 points), but with a key steal late in the fourth quarter that led to Irving’s whirling bucket in the paint with 15 seconds left in regulation that wound up getting the Mavericks to overtime.
They don’t call him Mr. Fourth Quarter for nothing.
Work like that against the Kings is why Irving is headed to the NBA All-Star Game for the ninth time in his career after being named as an injury replacement on Monday.
He’ll be filling in for teammate Anthony Davis, who was voted in by the coaches as a reserve but cannot play because of a left adductor strain.
Irving would have gladly traded his All-Star nod for a win on Monday. But it’s a well-deserved selection regardless.
“I’m grateful we could celebrate that moment,” Irving said. “We’ve been grinding now all season, trying to figure out how to get the best out of each other and support each other. I felt that from my teammates, coaches and fans. I don’t take that accomplishment for granted. This is the best league in the world, so when you’re top 24 or top 25 in this case, it feels good.”
The Mavericks showed a video in the first quarter as a tribute to Irving’s achievement.
“Kyrie’s one of the best players of my generation, no question,” said Klay Thompson. “The accolades, the resume, are ridiculous. NBA champ, Olympic champ, FIBA champ, FIBA MVP, No. 1 pick. What he’s been doing this long at this level is incredible.
“I’m just very proud of him because he’s such a hard worker. You don’t become a nine-time All-Star by accident. That’s elite company. He inspires me and everyone else in this building because he’s one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen.”
The All-Star Game Sunday in San Francisco will feature a four-team tournament. Irving will be on Team Shaq, coached by Shaquille O’Neal, and there will be three other eight-man teams with one being the winning team from the Rising Stars Game on Friday.
There will be semifinal games and then the winners will meet in the championship game. Each game will be won by the first team to 40 points.
“It’s great,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s had an all-star season, both on and off the floor. His leadership has been at a high. So it’s great that he was named to the All-Star team. We’ve said this before, no matter being named or not, we always believed he was an All-Star for us.”
The only drawback to Irving participating in the All-Star weekend is that it will cut down on any rest he was planning on getting during the break.
Speaking of which, Kidd said that the amount of playing time Irving has amassed in the pre-All-Star portion of the season is a concern.
But given the Mavericks’ injury situation throughout the season, is there really anything that they could do about running up Irving’s minutes? And by the way, it was just a few seconds shy of 44 minutes in Monday’s overtime game.
“I am concerned about the 40 minutes . . . if he does touch 40 minutes (Monday), he gets to rest tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes for Wednesday,” Kidd said. “He’s a pro. We’ll see if we can get him under 40. If he has to play 44 to win, he just has to rest a little bit longer with the kids tomorrow. These are the cards we’re dealt and he’s a pro. He’s not going to complain about the load. He’s going to try to figure it out.”
Waiting on a prognosis: The Mavericks had Anthony Davis for a grand total of 31 minutes before he suffered a strained left adductor and will be lost for an unspecified amount of time.
And coach Jason Kidd emphasized Monday that it very much is unspecified.
“They’re still evaluating,” Kidd said before the Mavericks and Sacramento Kings met. “There’s still stuff that has to come out. At some point that will. But it’s all speculation right now. But he’s getting evaluated and then a statement will come out.”
He made it clear that any timetable is premature.
Davis was out Monday and clearly is out until after the All-Star break as he was ruled out of the All-Star Game on Sunday.
Also out against the Kings on Monday were Dwight Powell (right hip), Dereck Lively II (right ankle stress fracture), P.J. Washington (right ankle sprain) and Caleb Martin (right hip).
Max Christie (right shoulder strain) and Dante Exum (left Achilles tightness) were both questionable before the game, but were cleared to play.
Kings know the feeling: The Mavericks had by far the biggest move in the NBA ahead of the trade deadline when they traded Luka Doncic for Davis and Christie.
But the Kings can relate to what kind of transition that a team has to go through when they make a major trade. Sacramento dealt its superstar guard De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio and acquired Zach LaVine and others.
“It’s like taking off in an airplane and all of the sudden, there’s some turbulence,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “You got to buckle your seat belt, everybody sit down and be calm. We’re trying to do that on a nightly basis. It’s a good problem to have. First and foremost our front office did a heck of a job to try to improve our bench.”
Christie emphasized that trades are never easy.
“This is the business that we’ve chosen,” he said. “It’s tough during trade deadline. There are families involved, a lot of different things. I’ve been there. And that part is a struggle. But we are a family. We work together. For us, it can get a little bumpy, but we’re finding our way.
“This one (Doncic for Davis) was really . . . when people are like: is that real? That’s pretty big. But the human side is always the same. It doesn’t matter if you’re a superstar or the 14th player on the bench. You have a family. You’re a person. And you have relationships.”
Briefly: Christie spent a brief time with the Mavericks at the start of the 2005-06 season, playing and starting in seven games. “It was short, it was sweet,” Christie said. “I really enjoyed my house. I was sorry I had to sell it. My kids were, too. But enjoyed it. Mark (Cuban) was fantastic . . . Christie on the Mavericks’ trade for Davis: “I’m a big fan of AD. Defensively, he’s a monster. Offensively, him and Kyrie in pick and rolls, not to mention two bigs, it’s going to be a problem.” . . . The Mavericks have home games Wednesday against Golden State and Thursday against Miami before they get a week without games for the All-Star break.
X: @ESefko
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