Kyrie Irving Out-Duels Jalen Brunson, Shows Mavs’ Championship Ceiling in Win vs. Knicks

As good as Jalen Brunson has become, he’s just not quite as good as Kyrie Irving yet, and the eight-time All-Star had a statement performance in the Dallas Mavericks’ big win over the New York Knicks.

After enduring an embarrassing loss to a severely undermanned Memphis Grizzlies team on Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks were expected to come into Thursday's game against the red-hot New York Knicks with the correct energy and mindset.

Despite MVP candidate Luka Doncic sitting out with an ankle injury, the Mavs did indeed bring that correct energy and put up a stellar performance against the Knicks, ending New York’s five-game win streak with a 128-124 victory at American Airlines Center. Dallas improved to 23-16 on the season and 4-1 on this current seven-game homestand.

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Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kyrie Irving was a huge reason why the Mavs were able to spoil Jalen Brunson's first time playing in Dallas since leaving for New York in 2022 free agency. Irving dazzled from the opening tip, when he put up a quick eight points to set the tone, then finished the game with 44 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and two steals while shooting 15-26 overall, including 6-10 from deep.

“Well, in competition, you’re going to get embarrassed sometimes,” Irving said of the previous game. “I think that’s part of NBA-level competition. Some games you’re not going to play up to the level that you want, [but] I think we responded tonight. That was only 48 hours ago, and consistency is just as important as locking into the gameplan. Being able to create some opportunities throughout the game where you’re really focused on getting the best possession out of your teammates. It was a hard-fought game.”

Until Thursday night, Doncic was the only Mavs player to ever record a 40-point, 10-assist game – and he's done so a handful of times – but Irving has now joined him on that exclusive franchise list. For the season, Irving is averaging 24.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 48.3 percent overall and 42.6 percent on 3s while also giving maximum effort on the defensive end of the floor.

Kyrie Leads Luka-Less Mavs to Win Against Knicks, Spoils Brunson's AAC Return

“Again, I think we've talked about this before -- our stars are diving on the floor in a regular-season game. It just shows the importance of their leadership, where they're at, and their mentality,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said after Irving scrapped for loose balls on multiple occasions during the win over the Knicks.

“They're leaders and that's what leaders do; they've got to sacrifice once in a while. Kai (Kyrie Irving) and Luka [Doncic] have done that by diving for the ball, coming up with a steal and then we go the other way. Again, Kai's been great coming back from injury and we needed that.”

As good as Brunson has been in New York, Irving showed why Mavs fans should no longer be upset with how things went down a year and a half ago. Sure, the Mavs could've kept Brunson, meaning that Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie could've stayed on the team or been used to trade for a frontcourt upgrade ... but then again, Dallas wouldn't have Irving, and probably not 19-year-old rookie Dereck Lively II either, in that scenario.

Mavs Championship Contenders? Playing with Kyrie Gives Luka Confidence

When the lights are brightest, and the pressure is on, Irving is a guy you want in your corner, and the Mavs' goal is to make it to the postseason with their star backcourt duo healthy. If that happens, the Mavs will have a chance to beat any opponent they face and make some real noise in the playoffs, perhaps even more noise than they made in their 2022 Western Conference Finals run that featured Brunson.

“[It] opens up everything for us on the floor, and then we start playing off of him. He gives up himself when it comes down to him not having the ball,” said Tim Hardaway Jr., who had a big game of his own with 32 points on 50-percent shooting.

“Even with Luka out there, he does a great job of screening off the ball and playing off of guys, playing off their energy. That’s how we all play when that second unit is in there, when ‘77’ takes a break and we play fast, we play aggressive. It’s our brand of basketball, for sure.”

As good as Irving and Doncic are, though, the Mavs' roster isn't complete yet, and the Dallas front office is working the phones in hopes of upgrading the frontcourt before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. Whether that piece ends up being Toronto Raptors' Pascal Siakam, Portland Trail Blazers' Jerami Grant or someone else, the Mavs hope to be even better off than they are now when that deadline buzzer sounds.


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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.