Dallas Basketball

Kyrie Irving Struggles vs. Lakers; Former NFL Player Jinxed Mavs?

Mavs' Kyrie Irving scored just 12 points in Dallas' loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, which was predicted by former NFL player Le'Veon Bell.

Michael Mulford

Kyrie Irving Struggles vs. Lakers; Former NFL Player Jinxed Mavs?
Kyrie Irving Struggles vs. Lakers; Former NFL Player Jinxed Mavs? /
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Despite getting Luka Doncic back after a three-game absence, notching yet another triple-double, 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, the Dallas Mavericks struggled to slow down LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers, losing 127-110.

As for Kyrie Irving, who was playing his best basketball of the season over the last five games since returning from injury himself, he scored just 12 points on 4-16 shooting from the floor. 

But, after such a hot stretch of scoring from Irving, he was due to slow down at some point, right? At least former NFL player Le'Veon Bell thinks so. 

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Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Bell posted on his "X" account on Tuesday that he could 'place a bet right now and end all this [expletive]', basically pointing to his bad luck when it comes to sports gambling. He followed up the post asking when the Mavericks play again to prove his point.

In Irving's defense, he did collide with James in the first quarter, forcing him to go back to the locker room to get checked out before returning to the game. That certainly could have been a factor on his down night. 

Bell could have very well bet the over on Irving's point total and put a small hex over the Mavs, but we'll let the basketball gods take the real blame for this one opposed to what seems to be a below-average sports better. 

If Bell was determined to make a point in placing that bet, then the Mavs weren’t the only ones to take an L on Wednesday night.

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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