Kyrie Irving opened up on his sensational lob dunk off an alley-oop pass by Luka Doncic, saying his teammates laughed at him when he told them to start throwing him lobs a few weeks ago.
“I’m glad he threw it man, that’s the trust. The trust of our team. Saw my teammates were laughing at me a few weeks ago when I told them to throw me a lob, but guess who’s laughing now?”
The dunk was a part of the Mavericks' league-high 18 dunks in one game. That was nearly unthinkable at the start of the season, as the Mavs have entirely pivoted from being a team that lives and dies by the three to a fast and athletic team with tons of rim pressure.
The Mavericks pulled off a 113-97 win over the Utah Jazz, pulling off a dominant defensive display with a lot of electrifying action through highlight plays. Kyrie Irving put up 16 points in a slow night but had this incredible highlight in a great win for Dallas.
The Mavericks have taken the No. 6 seed in the West with this win after the Kings fell to a shock loss to the Wizards. They're half a game ahead of Sacramento and ahead of the Suns on tiebreak. This was their seventh win in the last eight games and it seems the Mavericks are peaking just in time.
Kyrie Irving Is The Happiest And Healthiest He's Been In A While
Kyrie Irving's play in Dallas has been sensational of late, excelling as the team's second option next to Luka Doncic. He seems secure in his role, loved by his teammates, and appreciated by the franchise. He's also the healthiest he's been in a while after missing over 20 games through the first three months of the season with various injuries.
This isn't Irving's first dunk of the season, showing a willingness to attack the rim on an open play. He credited this change in his game to finally being fully healthy again.
"Did you watch the movie Benjamin Button? What if I'm getting more athletic in my 30s? That would be a heck of a thing, wouldn't it? With no screws in my knee, with no almost bad ankle. It took me a few years to get healthy."
Along with Irving's great play on the court and acceptance in the organization, Irving has been embraced by the city of Dallas.
“For me, it’s just getting adjusted here, getting established as one of the community leaders…I think being here in Dallas I’ve been accepted way beyond just my talent on the court…”
Irving is averaging 25.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists this season. The Mavericks have found the perfect way to maximize his talents next to Luka Doncic, as the backcourt is running over teams with their orchestration of the game. This has also led to their recent increase in dunks, with Doncic and Irvcing the perfect floor-setters for athletic bigs and wings like Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, and Derrick Jones Jr.
Irving is racking up memorable moments, with this dunk following up his ridiculous game-winner over the Denver Nuggets.
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