Getty Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
Monday’s fourth quarter wasn’t a pretty one for Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas led by 13 points heading into the final frame against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Mavericks then scored just 12 points, while giving up 29 to Memphis.
A major factor in the March 20 collapse was Irving’s brutal display down the stretch. He was held scoreless in the fourth, missing all eight of his attempts from the floor.
On top of his eight shots down the stretch, the 31-year-old also missed the part of the jersey swap between him and Dillon Brooks, when he was supposed to take Brooks’ jersey.
Kyrie didn’t even take Dillon Brooks jersey 😅
Despite the slight, that Irving later claimed was unintentional, there were no hard feelings from the Grizzlies guard. Brooks actually had some pretty high praise for Uncle Drew when speaking with reporters after Memphis’ 112-108 victory.
“He’s just like Kobe. He’s just like Jordan and those guys,” Brooks said via ABC24 Memphis’ Avery Braxton. “He plays the game at a different pace. He uses both hands, mid-range God. And that’s where I want to be at one day, be able to shoot the ball more.”
Lotta folks talking about the jersey swap between @KyrieIrving and @dillonbrooks24.
Brooks says he’s a fan of Kyrie because of everything he stands for.
Kyrie Irving Discusses Injury, Dillon Brooks After Mavs’ Loss
Brooks spent a lot of his night chasing around Irving, who finished with 28 points, 4 rebounds, a steal, and 2 blocks on 10-24 shooting from the field and 2-9 shooting from behind the three-point line.
While doing his best to slow down the All-Star guard, Brooks stepped on the back of Irving’s injured foot, appearing to reaggravate the issue.
Dallas’ 31-year-old star discussed the impact of that moment and how he let it bother him the rest of the night.
“At the end of the day, we got to take care of the controllable details out there, which is rebounding and staying in front of our men,” Irving said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “For the majority night, we did that. But for me, I have to be better if I’m going to be out there. Even maintaining the pace that I was after getting somewhat injured by Dillon. Just got to maintain the poise.”
Irving later went on to clarify that he didn’t think that there was any malicious intent from the Canadian guard.
“Just a re-aggravation of my foot. Unfortunate play,” Irving said. “I would have felt different up here if I felt Dillon did it on purpose, but I didn’t. So, just one of those plays where he’s trailing me, and I think his feet got caught up with mine, and I twisted my ankle. So, just bad timing, but the game has to keep going on.”
Dillon Brooks Taunts Theo Pinson in Win Over Mavericks
When Brooks wasn’t busy defending Kyrie, he was doing his thing and talking trash. He picked up a technical foul about halfway through the third quarter, when he taunted Theo Pinson after throwing down a dunk.
After the game, the 27-year-old explained the taunt to the media.
“The dude was standing up on the bench. He should be sitting down,” Brooks said via ABC24’s Avery Braxton, making reference to the league’s bench decorum rules. “We should be putting that on notice, but I just wanna let him know he’s a cheerleader. Same class, I grew up watching him play and he was a great player. Now he gets paid to cheerlead. I love it.”
From last night: Dillon Brooks said his dunk celebration was directed at Mavericks’ Theo Pinson
“Same class, I grew up watching him play. He was a great player. Now he gets paid to cheerlead.”
Landed him his 18th technical foul