The Dallas Mavericks wrapped up a two-game preseason set against the Houston Rockets in Macau, China over the weekend, splitting the outcomes. Kyrie Irving had been ready to go for some time now, just awaiting the opportunity to take the court in an official capacity after sustaining an ACL injury on March 3, 2025. Despite fans and players alike anxious to welcome him back, the Mavericks sat a few players in the first of two games, extending the lengthy wait just a bit longer. When it was time to tip-off
the second of the two games, there we found Irving, starting alongside Cooper Flagg for the first time.
In what easily could have been a cameo appearance where Irving saw a shot go down and maybe set up a teammate for an easy bucket before taking a seat, we instead got to see Irving get some real burn. In fact, only three Mavs’ players logged more minutes that Irving in the game, and none of them outscored him.
Let that sink in for a moment. A 34-year-old coming off an ACL injury that kept him sidelined for 586 days was the team-leader in scoring. That is not an indictment of the rest of the team, mind you, as the Mavs shot an impressive 48.2% overall, including 37.5% from downtown, while hitting nearly 90% of their free throws. Perhaps some consideration must be given to this being a preseason game in a foreign country, but even still, what Irving did left virtually nothing to be desired. As if to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind, Irving scored the first bucket of the game only 14 seconds into the contest. Better still, it came by way of his trademark wizardry in handling the ball, getting him a lane to drive and finish a reverse layup, then falling on the way down.
It was as though Irving wanted to send a specific message immediately. As though he wanted to prevent anyone from saying “yeah, but he didn’t…” In that one play, Irving showed he still has the handle, still has a quick first step and can change direction, still can take it amongst the trees and still can get lift for a crafty finish close to the rim. From there, he showed just about everything else, including a shot-clock beating three-ball from well beyond the arc.
Although there may be some days off on back-to-backs and there will surely be the less impressive games that every player experiences, Irving left little to debate about whether or not he is back. If that painfully early (local time) game showed us anything, it’s that he most definitely is back. Irving finished 6-of-13, including 2-of-6 from deep and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. He also had two rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers in 22 minutes.
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