Getty Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Dallas Mavericks are riding a two-game winning streak as they into their Monday night matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies. Dallas’ recent surge has helped them climb back out of the Play-In Tournament and back into sixth place in the Western Conference. The Mavericks’ 36-35 record has them a half game ahead of the reigning NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.
According to The Dallas Morning News’ Callie Caplan, star guard Kyrie Irving had a little something to do with Dallas’ stabilization.
Caplan chatted with Irving, who reveled that the team had recently gotten together for a group meeting.
“We had some real conversations, grown-up conversations, mature conversations,” Irving told Caplan. “We needed to get some things out.”
The 31-year-old (happy birthday!) went on to explain that he feels as if the discussion has brought his squad closer together.
”We had a real group conversation that we needed to get some things out, and now we’re just living with the wins and the losses because we’re together,” Irving continued. “It’s just those conversations behind the scenes really matter for our organization”
Lakers Coach Drops Strong Message on Mavs’ Kyrie Irving
Dallas’ most recent victory came on March 17, when they took down the Los Angeles Lakers at the buzzer.
The game-winning sequence saw Irving draw multiple defenders before eventually finding a wide-open Maxi Kleber, who sank the game-winning 3-pointer to give the Mavs the 111-110 win.
After watching his team let the game slip away, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham shared some thoughts on Irving and his decision making on the final play.
“I mean, he got pretty much a line-drive pass over to Kleber,” Ham said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “He started torching us a little bit down the stretch, thus, our decision to start blitzing him and double-teaming him. We made it difficult. Tried to be as active as possible. He found an open guy, and we didn’t get there fast enough. But AD had a last-minute, outstretched contest. But it’s tough. It’s like Indiana all over again. But at the end of the day, NBA players are highly talented. An elite skill level.”
Mavs’ Maxi Kleber Praises Kyrie Irving After Win Over Lakers
The hero of the night, Kleber, shined the spotlight on his All-Star teammate who had set up his clutch bucket in L.A.
“First of all, he’s very experienced. Very calm,” Kleber said via the Fanatics View YouTube channel. “He knows how to talk to people [and] where to set up people. [He] sees the strengths in players and knows what he expects them to do. So, that helps a lot. And then, obviously, like I said, he’s a very, very great teammate. He always has positive spirits, uplifting words, and all that. So, I’m very appreciative to be able to play with him. I think I learn a lot from just his body language. The way he interacts with his teammates. Just a great character guy.”
Irving finished the night with a game-high 38 points, to go along with 6 rebounds and 6 assists. He was efficient in his scoring outburst too, knocking down 14 of his 23 attempts from the field.