CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Following Tuesday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, Kyrie Irving’s exuberance probably got the best of him.Kyrie

Not long after that game, the Dallas Mavericks’ guard talked about his excitement to be playing the next night in New Orleans against the Pelicans. But there was only one problem.

“I was speaking from an emotional place,” Irving said. “I’m sorry if anyone at home was confused by that, but in the NBA we have protocol. There is a certain step-by-step process that goes on.

“It’s important that they have my best interest for me as well, and kind of scale me back, and that’s what happened.”

The “they” Irving was referring to is the Mavs’ medical staff, who knew the game against the Nuggets was Irving’s first after he missed five games with a lumbar back sprain. It was a game where Irving played 30 minutes and scored 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting.

Irving ultimately sat out the game against the Pelicans – at the insistence of the medical staff.

“It was a bit of an overruling, but at the same time it was them having my best interest and that’s the perspective that I saw it from,” Irving said. “They were just telling me, ‘Hey, take this day off, use these next two days, go in the weight room, do what you have to do.’ “

Irving was back on the court for Friday’s game against Oklahoma City and responded with a game-high 25 points in 39 minutes during the 106-98 victory over the Thunder. He was 9-of-19 from the field and 3-of-8 from downtown and also collected five rebounds and five assists.

“It looks like the rust was gone after that Denver game,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “I thought he was kind of back to his rhythm and his flow, and I thought he accepted the challenge of being denied (on OKC double-teams) and getting his teammates to play.”

Irving said he felt good coming out of the game against the Thunder and is looking forward to Monday’s 11 a.m. game in Charlotte against the Hornets.

“I was fully at peace with my game (Friday),” Irving said. “Just cardiovascular-wise, you don’t get a chance to work out as hard as you would like, and you have to rest and you come back in, it takes a little while to get the tread going a little bit.

“It’s a new expKyrieerience for me with this injury, so I’m taking my time and just remaining patient. I’m not too worried, but I know the maintenance that it takes to make sure that I’m good, and I have to continue that.”

Irving will be continuing that maintenance in preparation for the Mavs’ Monday morning game at the Spectrum Center against the Hornets. But first, he was asked what was his personal takeaway from the game against the Nuggets.

“My takeaway is just being able to get up and down the court without me hurting or without having anything occur where I’m worried,” Irving said. “It was tough for me, even after the last game (against Denver) just regulating my emotions coming back and playing against Denver and I didn’t have that extra push in reserve, or I didn’t have that extra energy, and that bothered me.

“I left out of there kind of wondering just how I could be better for my teammates, be a better leader and also take some pressure off myself.”

 

Here are some other nuggets surrounding Monday’s game between the Mavs and Hornets.

*The Mavs return home after Monday’s game and will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, and then play at Oklahoma City on Thursday. After that theKyrie Mavs will have their first meeting against Boston since the Celtics defeated them in last season’s NBA Finals.

*The Mavs will once again be heavily shorthanded during Monday’s game. The Mavs not playing include Luka Dončić (left calf strain), Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain), Dwight Powell (right hip injury) and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery). Also, Dereck Lively II (right ankle sprain) is questionable for Monday’s game.

*Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball is fourth in the NBA in scoring with 29.5 ppg, and also averages 5.3 rpg, 7.5 apg and 1.4 spg. In addition for Charlotte, Brandon Miller averages 21 ppg, Miles Bridges is averaging 18.4 ppg and 7.6 rpg, Mark Williams averages 14.5 and 9.3 rpg, Ex-Mavs forward Grant Williams is out for the season after having surgery last month on his right ACL.

*Naji Marshall delivered his first double-double as a member of the Mavs on Friday when he scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards in the win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Overall, he has five career double-doubles. Marshall also collected a season-high tying three steals against the Thunder. Marshall, who is shooting a career-best 51.1 percent from the field, was 5-of-8 from the floor against OKC, including 3-of-5 from three-point territory.

*Familiar faces in new places. Hornets players Josh Green, Grant Williams and Seth Curry used to play for the Mavs. And Mavs forward P. J. Washington was selected in the first round (12th overall) by the Hornets in the 2019 NBA Draft. He played his entire career with the Hornets until they traded him to the Mavs last February. Mavs forward/center Dwight Powell was actually selected by the Hornets in the second round of the 2014 draft. However, his draft rights were traded to Cleveland then to Boston, all before his first game. Powell was traded to the Mavs on Dec. 18, 2014, less than two months into his rookie season.

*The Hornets are on a modest two-game winning streak. They won at Utah (117-112), and at Chicago (125-123) last week.

 

DALLAS MAVERICKS (23-19) at CHARLOTTE HORNETS (10-28)

When: 11 a.m., Monday

Where: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N. C.

TV: KFAA-29, MavsTV Stream, NBA TV

Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @DwainPrice

 

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