Irving supplies daggers as Mavs top Nets

Burns former teammates with 36 points, pair of late 3s

February 7, 2024 John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Kyrie Irving leaves the court at Barclays Center with a smile and a victory for the Dallas Mavericks over his former Nets teammates. AP Photo by Peter K. Afriyie

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Unlike Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving didn’t receive a tribute video for his much-anticipated and scrutinized return to Brooklyn one year after being traded away by the Nets.

But the result was the same: A sellout crowd at Downtown’s Barclays was treated to what they had grown accustomed to for the better part of 3 1/2 seasons, a virtuoso performance by one of their former superstars.

Irving lit up the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush as well as the 17,732 in attendance Tuesday night, scoring a game-high 36 points, including a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers, to push the Dallas Mavericks to a 119-107 victory over the struggling Nets.

“Just like any other basketball game, but it felt like I was home tonight,” Irving said.

After arriving here with Durant in the summer of 2019 with hopes of bringing our borough its first major pro sports title since 1955, Irving had a star-crossed tenure here.

He sat out games for social justice causes, missed the majority of Brooklyn home games in 2020-21 for not adhering to vaccination mandates and was suspended months before his trade to the Mavericks (28-23) last February for posting a link to an anti-semitic book and documentary.

In between, the New Jersey native posted 14 games with at least 40 points games as a Net, including a franchise-record 60 in Orlando on March 15, 2022.

The mercurial guard didn’t stir things up in the arena or light up the scoreboard quite as dramatically in this visit to Barclays.

But the fans who spent the early portion of the game booing his every touch of the ball also voiced their pleasure at seeing Irving’s impossible-to-deny talent on display.

The 6-foot-2 playmaker hit 15-of-24 shots, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range. He also handed out five assists and picked up a pair of steals in his second game back from a thumb injury.

While backcourt mate Luka Doncic had a more impressive stat line with 35 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, it was Irving who provided the daggers when the Nets crawled back into contention in the fourth quarter.

Kyrie Irving rises for two of his game-high 36 points in his return to Brooklyn as Dallas beat the Nets Tuesday night, 119-107. AP Photo by Peter K. Afriyie

After trailing by as many as 23 points, Brooklyn (20-30) used a late surge to pull within 107-101 on Spencer Dinwiddie’s three-point play with 5:22 to play.

Irving flushed back-to-back 3-pointers on Dallas’ ensuing trips to open a 12-point cushion for Dallas, which posted its second straight win.

“It’s tough,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn admitted. “Ky has the extreme ability to shot-make versus anyone and I thought he had some timely buckets for that group.”

Durant scored 33 points in his victorious return to Brooklyn last Wednesday, albeit with a video tribute and a smattering of early boos.

Irving was shown on the Barclays jumbotron alongside former Nets Markieff Morris and Seth Curry prior to pregame introductions. After that, it was just Kyrie being Kyrie.

The eight-time NBA All-Star mixed in his acrobatic layups and scoop shots with long-range accuracy and a thunderous slam of a lob pass.

He hit each of his first four shots to shake off any homecoming jitters and piled up 10 points in the second quarter, when the Mavs pulled away for a 65-47 cushion at intermission.

“Getting here early, warming up, just getting a good sense of the rims, the atmosphere, what it was going to be like and just mentally preparing myself for the game,” Irving said of his return.

“Just letting the game come to me, and allowing the basketball gods to do the rest.”

Mikal Bridges scored a team-high 28 points, Royce O’Neale added 18 off the bench and Cam Thomas had 16 for the Nets, who have lost eight of their last 10 home contests, including a pair they really wanted against Durant and Irving, respectively.

Brooklyn point guard Ben Simmons, who sat out Monday’s loss here to Golden State, returned to action and amassed nine points, nine boards and seven assists in his first start since returning last week from a 38-game absence due to a nerve impingement in his back.

But none of that resulted in a much-needed victory for the Nets, who will continue this five-game homestand Thursday night vs. Cleveland.

Instead, Irving left Brooklyn with hopes of capturing his second career NBA title with the Mavs while the Nets ponder what their roster will look like following Thursday’s trade deadline.

Just one year ago, the Nets were seriously pursuing a title of their own before Irving and Durant left town.

Now, neither is all in for Brooklyn.

“We don’t have KD, Kyrie, guys like that now,” Simmons ceded.

Ben Simmons returned to the hardwood after sitting out vs. Golden State Monday, but the Nets still lost to Kyrie Irving and the visiting Mavericks. AP Photo by Peter K. Afriyie

NOTHING BUT NET: Irving had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists in his first reunion with Brooklyn in Dallas on Oct. 27, helping the Mavs top the Nets, 125-120. The Nets split their two meetings with Durant this year, edging Phoenix, 116-112, on their West Coast swing in December. … After hosting the Cavaliers on Thursday, the Nets will welcome San Antonio to Barclays on Saturday before kicking off a home-and-home with Boston here Tuesday. The Nets will visit the Celtics on Valentine’s Day to complete the two-game set. … Logging minutes for Brooklyn for the first time since Jan. 3, second-round pick Jalen Wilson scored 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting, including a pair of 3s, in 18 minutes off the bench Tuesday.