Kyrie Irving leads Mavericks to another win

Kyrie Irving, playing his second game since being traded by the Brooklyn Nets, finished with 25 points and 10 assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 122-114 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

Anotha one! MAVS WIN!! @Chime | #MFFL pic.twitter.com/DpHc7eHdtk

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) February 11, 2023

Luka Doncic missed his fourth straight game with a heel injury but it did not matter as Irving provided a spark.

The Mavericks recorded their 31st win of the season against the highest-scoring team in the NBA at 119 points per game.

Irving, who was five of 14 from the field but a perfect 12 of 12 from the foul line, led Dallas in scoring as they had seven players in double figures in the victory. He also added three rebounds, and one steal in 35 minutes of action.

Josh Green finished 17 points, four rebounds, and seven assists in 38 minutes of action as he made seven of his 12 field goals. Tim Hardaway Jr., Reggie Bullock, Christian Wood, JaVale McGee, and Jaden Hardy all scored at least 11 points.

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The Mavericks shot the ball well on Feb. 10 as they made 48.9 percent of their 88 field goals. Dallas were 18 of 43 from 3-point range and they made 18 of their 19 free throws in the win.

The Kings shot just 33.3 percent from three, and they committed five more turnovers in what was the difference in the game.

De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points for Sacramento and Domantas Sabonis had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

“You can’t run from it,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “Teams got better in the West. But we have to focus on us.

“There’s nothing else we can do about what happened with other teams (at the trade deadline), except for buckle down and do what we have to do to play these last 28 games at the highest level.”

The Mavericks face the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday night, and Doncic is set to return.