LOS ANGELES — This was an up-close glimpse of what could have been. A veteran point guard taking and making shots, in essence, making himself at home on the Crypto.com Arena floor.
Kyrie Irving, the mercurial point guard, showed up in Los Angeles on Wednesday – not as a member of the Clippers but wearing a brand-new Dallas Mavericks uniform.
Soon after Irving demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, the Clippers declared their interest in acquiring the talented guard. Before the Clippers could secure a trade, the Mavericks had paired the eight-time All-Star with guard Luka Doncic, who reportedly gave his blessing to the trade.
“You can see how good he is, so I think this should be really fun,” Doncic said in an interview on ESPN on Wednesday.
Doncic, who is nursing a heel contusion, was not in uniform for Irving’s solid debut with the Mavericks, but he was in the building to see his new teammate get jeered by the Clippers crowd on his first possession and watch him score 24 points in Dallas’ 110-104 victory.
Irving, who is averaging 27.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season, also had four rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes.
“We were sitting in a walkthrough trying to figure out the last time that this team actually faced Kyrie,” said Clippers assistant coach Brian Shaw, who was filling in for an ailing Tyronn Lue during pregame access. “I think it was a couple years ago. But much like Doncic, he’s going to have the ball in his hand a lot we anticipate.
“We’re going to have to pay great attention to him and just try to keep him under control, make him work for everything.”
Turned out, Irving wasn’t the only player the Clippers needed to focus on. Reggie Bullock scored 18 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15, Josh Green added 14 and Dwight Powell had 10.
Fatigue after their longest road trip of the season (six games) was evident. Several times in the second half, the Clippers pulled to within one point of tying the score…
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