NEW YORK (AP) — Exactly one year after being traded to Dallas, Kyrie Irving scored 36 points in a stellar return to Brooklyn, leading the Mavericks to a 119-107 victory over the Nets on Tuesday night. lead.
Luka Doncic had 35 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists as the Mavericks' guard tandem took turns hitting a number of deep 3-pointers in the second half as the Nets tried to escape. Doncic quickly removed the mask he wore at the start of the game to protect his nose from a contusion injury, and just missed his 10th triple-double of the season.
Irving was booed when he touched the ball early on, but the boos turned into cheers after he made one of his flashy drives for a reserve layup and made one of his six 3-pointers. Ta. This was especially true when I went up high. hit a lob pass In the third quarter.
Irving is second in Nets history with 40 points in 14 games, returning from a six-game absence due to a sprained right thumb and scoring nearly one point in Brooklyn's win over Philadelphia on Monday. Ta.
Mikal Bridges scored 28 points and Royce O'Neal scored 18 points for the short-handed Nets, who cut the deficit to 107-101 by 23 points with about five minutes left before Irving sank two consecutive 3-pointers to make it 113. They led by 101 vs. . Ben Simmons had nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists in Monday's loss to Golden State.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said that while Irving was a calming presence for the Mavericks' young players, calm was certainly not the word to describe his time in Brooklyn. He played in just 143 games in three and a half seasons, missing one season by taking time off and another by refusing to take a New York State-mandated COVID-19 vaccine, missing a home game. I missed almost all of it. He was suspended by the team last season after he refused to apologize for posting links to anti-Semitic works on social media.
His relationship with the team soured, and Irving, who grew up a Nets fan in New Jersey and New York, hoped his return would be over by the middle of last season. The Nets, who had already decided not to extend his contract the previous summer, traded away Kevin Durant a few days after moving Irving, and when the All-Stars assembled in 2019, the Nets had a very promising era. put an end to it.
There was no video tribute Durant received when he first returned last week. Rather, the Nets welcomed the trio of former Nets back to Brooklyn by playing pictures of Irving, Seth Curry and Markieff Morris on an overhead videoboard before the starting lineup was announced.
Dallas led 31-24 after the first quarter, but Irving hit the first four shots, including two 3-pointers, and scored 10 points in the second quarter, quickly increasing the lead to double digits. Reached. The Mavs led 65-47 at the break.
The Mavericks then scored the first five points of the second half, and Nets coach Jacque Vaughn called timeout after his players allowed Irving to take a wide-open 3-pointer just 46 seconds into the game, making it 70-47. I took it.
The Nets trailed by nine points late in the third quarter, but Doncic made back-to-back 30- and 36-foot threes, and Dallas hit three shots to get back up to 95-77.
next
Mavericks: Visit New York on Thursday.
Nets: Host Cleveland on Thursday.
___
APNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
