In the absence of teammates Luka Doncic and Klay Thompson, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Atlanta Hawks 129-119 on Monday thanks to the play of Kyrie Irving. The Mavs’ Big 3 weren’t complete as Doncic missed his third straight game due to an injured wrist. Thompson, on the other hand, missed his first game of the 2024-25 NBA season due to a foot injury.
Irving took care of business with his 32-point performance, despite being listed as questionable due to illness before the game. The star point guard had seven rebounds and six assists in 41 minutes of action. Uncle Drew dominated from beyond the arc and knocked down 46.2% of his shots from three.
After the first two quarters, Irving only had 10 points, giving the Mavs the 68-52 lead. However, he started getting into his rhythm in the second half and had 22 points, including a 16-point performance in the fourth period. Irving shot 4-for-5 from deep in the final period and had a +11 plus/minus.
Three other Mavs players scored at least 20 points for the team. Jaden Hardy had 23 points and three steals. Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie had 22 points apiece. Dallas dominated the second chance points with 15, while Atlanta had nine. Without Doncic and Thompson, Irving and the squad used their speed and had 21 fastbreak points over the Hawks’ 10.
The Mavericks will be back in action on Wednesday against the New York Knicks for a one-game homestand.
Fans were hyped with Kyrie Irving’s performance over the Hawks
Kyrie Irving was unstoppable against the Hawks and fans loved how he performed. After the game, fans went to X (formerly Twitter), to share their excitement of Irving’s night without Doncic and Thompson.
“One of the greatest guards of all time, his game is so watchable,” one fan had high praise for Irving.
“He wasn’t even suppose to play. Kyrie is the truth 🔥” one fan said.
“Kyrie back in top 15 talks???👀” one fan argued.
Kyrie back in top 15 talks???👀 pic.twitter.com/gY3A5SBCbu
— E-Man (@WigginsWick22) November 26, 2024
“top 50 player of all time”
“Mavericks have the best backcourt Duo in the League!”
“Uncle Drew was cooking tonight 👨🏾🍳 🔥🏀”
Uncle Drew was cooking tonight 👨🏾🍳 🔥🏀
— SportsFanaticHQ (@Fana27014Sports) November 26, 2024
“S**t was easy too , Kyrie a calm bucket”
“Watched Kyrie live for the first time today, when he in his bag good luck”
“There really needs to be more discussion on just how great of an all-time player Kyrie Irving is.”
There really needs to be more discussion on just how great of an all-time player Kyrie Irving is.
Salute @KyrieIrving https://t.co/IerRYE2AQc
— nevaRWilliams (@nevaRWilliams) November 26, 2024
“@KyrieIrving I told y’all you was gonna have a great season
“Another night, another reminder of his elite skill. Thoughts on his performance?”
“16 in the 4th after trolling all game.”
After playing 16 games this season, Irving is averaging 24.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
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Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
