Kyrie Irving Embraces 'Aggressive' Mentality in Mavs' Win vs. Blazers: 'Can't Be Passive'

Mavs superstar Kyrie Irving focused on setting the tone for the Mavs with an aggressive mindset, helping to lead the win over the Trail Blazers.

DALLAS —  The Dallas Mavericks began a seven-game homestand with a 126-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, producing a much-needed bounce-back performance after a 37-point loss against the Utah Jazz in their previous outing. Kyrie Irving factored in significantly into the Mavs' latest victory, recording 29 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals without stepping on the court in the final period. 

“(It was a) great response to what happened in Utah,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. (It was) just what we talked about this morning and being able to be focused. I thought the ball movement was great. Defensively, again, (it) was really, really good. We were locked in.”

After being sidelined for 12 games due to a right heel contusion, Irving scored only 14 points against the Jazz on a night Luka Doncic struggled, and the rest of the offense shot poorly from the perimeter, ending a three-game road trip with a 1-2 record. It was an all-around flat performance, with Luka Doncic admitting the team "relaxed," knowing Irving was back in the fold.  

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Knowing the Mavs needed a bounce-back performance on Wednesday night, Irving emphasized being aggressive to set the tone. Irving, who admitted he didn't want to "step on any toes" in Utah, emphasized how he cannot be passive for his team during the walk-off interview after defeating Portland. 

“I can’t be passive; that’s not my personality," Irving told Bally Sports Southwest. "I really want to come out aggressive and set the tone defensively and offensively. I'm grateful that I got a chance to do that tonight."

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Doncic and Irving combined for 70 points on the night, with 52 coming in the first half, meaning the Mavs' two superstars had single-handily outscored the Trail Blazers' whole team by a five-point margin by the break. Kidd credited Irving's aggressive approach for getting Dallas a hot start. 

“A lot of great performances by our two stars to get us started,” Kidd said. “Kai didn’t wait tonight. He was aggressive. And then Luka was Luka.”

A strong indication of Irving's aggressive mindset was his seeking out of pull-up 3-point attempts from the beginning of the game, whether attacking in transition or playing out of a ball-screening action. With the Mavs facing Portland again on Friday, Kidd emphasized the importance of receiving this type of impact from Irving again to overcome the challenge of facing the same opponent twice."

"I thought Kai [Kyrie Irving] was great. When you look at the shots that he got, he wasn't hesitant," Kidd said. "Any time he starts off the game by looking for the three, you know that he's in a different mindset. Again, we're going to need that on Friday. This baseball schedule is not easy. It's not easy to beat a team twice, and we understand that. They're going to give us their best on Friday, so we have to be prepared, and also, we've got to try to get healthy here."

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After being contained by the Jazz's frequent use of zone defensive schemes, the Mavs were active with ball movement and off-ball activity against Portland. The team was creative in moving Doncic and Irving around in the half-court, leveraging their presence and skill set in various sets and screening actions to force the Blazers into disadvantages requiring split-second decisions and matchups. Irving emphasized the value of Dallas forcing 21 turnovers, creating chances to push the pace. 

"Easy flow, easy flow, easy to play with. And we're getting up and down like that, we're getting stops," Irving said. "So, I mean, 21 turnovers don't happen every single night. But when you get your forced 21 turnovers, you have a few chances and a few more opportunities to get to the rim, get some open threes, transition, and make the game easy. So we did that tonight."

Throughout his performance, Irving was instrumental in taking pressure off of Doncic, both in terms of running the offense with the second unit to give him rest and initiating when Doncic was on the floor. Between having Doncic screen as the back-screener in Stack pick-and-roll and being a double-drag screener out of a Horns set, Irving took advantage of opportunities in those situations. It was a favorable view of how the Mavs could attack defenses with their two superstars, symbolic of how the team was beginning to operate consistently before Irving's injury. 

Irving was disappointed in the injury because he felt he was in a great rhythm before it happened, averaging 28.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in his five games before the Dec. 8 game when he suffered his right heel contusion against the Blazers, ending his night after six minutes of action. 

"24 days. 24 days, man. That's a long amount of time in the NBA season to miss games, especially when I felt like I was in a great rhythm before that happened," Irving said. "I played one time - one pickup game - and then two days later, I was in an NBA game. I just had to trust the hard work that I put in in the summertime and the work I put in day-to-day and let the results speak for themselves."

From the beginning of the game against Portland, Irving felt the need to "inject" himself into the game's rhythm, helping to push the pace to get the offense an advantage. He found opportunities to attack as the initiator both to get to the rim and on pull-up jumpers.

"Tonight was one of those games where I felt like I had to inject myself into the rhythm and kind of force myself to get up and down, get a good sweat going, and be able to exemplify the pace that we should be playing at," Irving said. "I feel like we did that."

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After his second back from injury, Irving said his foot felt "great." He detailed the challenges he had to overcome throughout the recovery process, including not being able to put on his shoes for about two-and-a-half weeks while he was recovering. 

"I felt great. My foot was feeling great," Irving said. "Again, I couldn't even get two socks on to put in my shoes for about two-and-a-half weeks, and it was just achy walking around, carrying my kids, and you realize how much you're on your feet day-to-day. There isn't really a lot of ample time to rest and recover."

The focus for Irving was to regain his balance as he worked his way back into form. He even acknowledged situations when he felt "achy-ness" while hitting his heel on the lift bar while working in the weight room during the recovery process. 

"I tried to find my balance, and I think that's what took me so long to come back to playing, is that I was just pushing it and then in the weight room," Irving said. "Doing things to put my body in a better position, I had one or two setbacks where - there was one time where I even hit my heel when I was doing the lift bar in the weight room, and that achy-ness comes back. But tonight was one of those nights where I wasn't thinking about it.

"Mentally, I felt great from the start, and you saw the results, so I want to continue to build on my consistency, find my rhythm, be aggressive, and do the right things for our team to win," Irving explained.

Irving will look to set the tone for the Mavs again on Friday when the team takes on the Blazers again at American Airlines Center.