Kyrie Irving exhibited his scoring brilliance, amassing a season-high 44 points, steering the short-handed Dallas Mavericks (23-16) to a hard-fought 128-124 triumph against the New York Knicks (22-16).
Despite missing key starters, including Luka Doncic, the Mavericks, buoyed by Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 32 points, successfully repelled a late surge from the Knicks.
Speaking in the postgame press conference, Irving, accustomed to intense battles against the Knicks during his tenure with the Nets, shared his thoughts on the victory.
“It’s definitely a different Knicks team than I played against last year, so you’ve got to give them credit. They’ve gotten better, they came in on the streak, and I’ve always said I love beating the Knicks, but it’s just another team on our schedule, man,” remarked Irving.
“When I was in Brooklyn, it was definitely high intensity, and they were right down the street. You see all the Twitter ads, and you see all kinds of fans getting into it. I think that’s what makes New York City basketball great. But here in Dallas was a homecoming for a few guys on the New York Knicks, and we just wanted to play well against them tonight. So just another game.”
