Kyrie Irving’s MVP-Level Play Sparks Mavs Win Streak: ‘Going After Our Championship’

The Dallas Mavericks have won six consecutive games heading into All-Star Weekend, and the incredible play of star point guard Kyrie Irving is one of the biggest reasons why. Can Dallas compete for a championship?

Dalton Trigg | Feb 16, 2024

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Dallas Mavericks

Before Kyrie Irving returned from a six-game absence due to a thumb sprain, the Dallas Mavericks were struggling, as they had lost seven of 10 games after blowing a 25-point lead to the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 3.

Since Irving has been back in the lineup, though, Dallas has been firing on all cylinders while achieving a season-best six-game win streak. During the streak, Irving has been lights out, averaging 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting 57.6 percent overall and 42.9 percent from deep. Although Luka Doncic has been the Mavs’ MVP candidate all season, Irving has done a great job of being co-MVP.

“Proud of our guys that we’re making incremental progress,” Irving said after the Mavs’ latest blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs.

“It’s about us and everyone that’s in that locker room and continuing to get that work in on off days, and doing the little things to be prepared to play whatever amount of minutes that coach asks you too. I think once we matured in that sense of being able to lock into our roles, you’re seeing some highly successful basketball being played.”

The new additions of Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington have helped the Mavs out tremendously, but Irving was the catalyst for Dallas’ turnaround three games before those trades ever went down. Now, with Gafford and Washington being high-level contributors and seamless fits, the sky is the limit for the Doncic and Irving-led Mavs.

Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Extend West-Leading Win Streak; Mavs Eye 5th Seed After All-Star Break

In training camp, Irving spoke about wanting to “peak at the right time” this season, and the Mavs are well on their way to doing just that after All-Star Weekend. They’re healthy, and they’ve received a considerable influx of talent and size, so now is the time for Dallas to make the leap from being a playoff hopeful to being a title contender.

“Now it’s time to get ready for the second half of the season,” Irving said as he walked off the court after Wednesday’s win. “Going after our championship”

Published Feb 16, 2024

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.