LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers earned a 107-99 victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. The Mavs fell short as Luka Doncic led LA to a win in his first game against his former team. Kyrie Irving did everything he could in the defeat, though, scoring 35 points to lead all players on Tuesday. Doncic, meanwhile, recorded a 19-point, 15-rebound, 12-assist triple-double. While to speaking to reporters after the game, Irving admitted that it was “awkward as s**t” playing against his former co-star.
Kyrie Irving said it was “awkward as sh*t” playing against Luka Doncic#MFFL pic.twitter.com/tN88kfRYjY
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) February 26, 2025
“Awkward as s**t,” Irving said of playing against Doncic. “It was awkward… At the same time it was fun, we got a chance to feel like we were in practice all over again going at each other. That was a good reflection point. Just seeing the crowd cheer for him, just get him going. Seeing him make the tough shots that I’ve seen him make thousands of times, that’s what probably made it even more awkward.
“You know, it was fun. It was fun competing, lot of good basketball players out there… This is what you want to be apart of as a competitor. You can tell JJ Redick was trying to prepare the guys emotionally, especially Luka. I feel like he handled himself well.”
The game drew no shortage of attention. Anthony Davis was also in LA with the Mavs, but he remains out with an injury. Max Christie was available in the contest, though. However, all eyes were on Doncic following the shocking trade.
Mavericks share thoughts on Luka Doncic
Klay Thompson, who only played with Doncic this season, shared a similar sentiment to Irving while talking about playing against Doncic.
“Strange,” Thompson said of playing against Doncic. “He’s a competitive guy and so are we, so it was fun to battle. I know we will see him at least one more time… It was strange at first but once you run up and down the court a couple times it’s just another basketball game.”
Dealing with the emotions and hype of such a highly-anticipated contest was surely a challenge. Mavs had coach Jason Kidd was pleased with the way his team approached the situation, however.
“I thought we did a great job,” Kidd said. “The emotion of the game, understanding that our gameplan and our job was to try to find a way to win… Came up short… We kept fighting… But they were the better team tonight.”
The Mavs will head home following Tuesday’s defeat. Dallas will host the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.
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