Mavs' Kyrie Irving Details Insane Finish Over Spurs' Victor Wembanyama: 'It Felt Good'

Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving pulled off an insane finish at the rim over San Antonio Spurs towering rookie big man Victor Wembanyama, and he went into detail on how he was able to do it.
Mavs' Kyrie Irving Details Insane Finish Over Spurs' Victor Wembanyama: 'It Felt Good'
Mavs' Kyrie Irving Details Insane Finish Over Spurs' Victor Wembanyama: 'It Felt Good' /

After falling down by 15 points in the first half, the surging Dallas Mavericks pulled off a massive turnaround en route to a 116-93 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday nigh. It was Dallas' sixth win in a row, which is the best mark in the Western Conference heading into the All-Star break.

Star point guard Kyrie Irving was a big reason for that turnaround, as he was fully engaged from the opening tip-off and finished with 34 points on 15-22 shooting to go with nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block. During the third quarter, Irving drove the baseline on Spurs 7-foot-5 rookie Victor Wembanyama and finished an incredible acrobatic layup over his outstretched arm. The eight-time All-Star detailed that moment after the game.

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Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

“For me personally, I remember the first game of the season, [Wembanyama's] entry to the league, he blocked my shot," Irving said. "He’s just a force down there, he has great timing, you can tell he just studies the game well. On the defensive end, there's not much they can’t do. For me to get the best of him on that one possession, it felt good. In the future I don't know how many more I’ll get on him just because of how much ground he covers. It was an exciting play – I'm grateful I converted it.”

It was far from the first time Irving converted a difficult bucket over a much-bigger defender. With his elite footwork and basketball IQ, he does it more than anyone else in the league.

“The first thing is no fear. Once you step in that paint, you take off. Especially off of one foot, or off of two feet, you want to safely land, be aware of the contact, know how strong the bigs are before you attach. Even if it’s a guard down there that’s a good defender there, it’s just to limit their athletic ability," Irving said.

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"I have to be crafty around the rim, sometimes I can finish over guys, but a lot of them are trying to block shots when I get close to the rim. I like to play in that in between area, between 16 feet to like one foot, and be very efficient down there. When I see bigs down there, I feel like I have an advantage when I can use the rim as protection, and I know that I can convert it at a high rate.

"So that’s what I’m thinking when I go to the lane, just being creative but also go to finish. I had a lot of coaches growing up when I was playing on their teams, didn’t really like or appreciate my creativity in the air until I made my layups at a really efficient rate.”

The Mavs' season-best six-game win streak has coincided with Irving returning from a thumb sprain that kept him sidelined for six games. During the win streak, Irving is averaging 26.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 57.6 percent overall and 42.9 percent from deep. With Luka Doncic also playing at an MVP level, the Mavs, along with their new additions of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, look poised to make a big push in the standings after the All-Star break.


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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.