The Dallas Mavericks continue to beat anyone of anything that is put in its path with the Portland Trail Blazers being their most recent victim.
A 132-108 win swept aside their opponents with the usual stars of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving playing a big hand in the team’s strong offensive numbers.
Daniel Gafford also joined in with the party scoring 23 points, meaning that the trio put up a combined 70 of the team’s 132.
The Mavericks have been without Luka Doncic through periods of this season due to injury but the Slovenian is back and firing on all cylinders.
Despite there being no doubts that Luka is the face of the Mavericks franchise Quentin Grimes named Kyrie as the voice of the Mavericks locker room, and the star was certainly vocal about one key lesson which has benefited his recent NBA career.
Now in his 14th NBA season, Kyrie has seen and done it all. He’s spent time with four sides across both the Eastern and Western Conference since joining the league in 2011.
The eight-time NBA All-Star and one-time champion has experienced some of the greatest moments any player could, but he’s also had his fair share of low moments.
Carmelo Anthony recently revaled how Irving has found his home in Dallas, something which is clear to see from his beaming smile in interviews.
Speaking to the media following the Mavericks latest win Irving was asked what the team felt it had learnt while Luka was out injured for eight games.
Irving said: “I mean number one I just try not to be divisive about it because I see it from the outside looking in sometimes because when we’re not playing with Luka there’s an emphasis on our team even more so just because of our success rate with or without him in it. Sometimes we pay a lot of attention to that but we fail to realize that we have a lot of other good players that are on the team too.
“We are trying to build a dynasty, we’re trying to build something special here and I think that comes with changing of the guard, or functionality of how people play.
Kyrie went on to explain how he likes to celebrate the little things now as he experienced a lot of flack in Cleveland when LeBron James was out and similar in Brooklyn with Kevin Durant.
He said: “I dealt with a lot of flack when LeBron wasn’t playing and we were not good at all and then KD [Kevin Durant] didn’t play when I was in Brooklyn, so I’ve felt when guys are not in the line-up the pressure is on me and I think I’ve been able to learn through the portion of my career to just trust other guys and let them carry me too. Sometimes you’ve got to be carried and be okay with that as a leader.”
Kyrie made a strong point of emphasis on how a few players cannot with you a championship it’s about the team collective.
While the Mavericks of course enjoy the fact that Luka will pretty much guarantee you 25 points every night other players are also standing up and taking responsibility.
A strong sign of the team depth can be seen when rotation players are being singled out for their efforts. Klay Thompson recently praised Quentin Grimes for his impact on the side since joining from the Detroit Pistons.
In the recent win over the Trail Blazers no fewer than five Mavericks stars notched up 10-plus points in the game and Kyrie praised the team’s depth.
He said: “It’s very important and it should be a priority to talk about it. When you have a dedicated group that is focused we compete hard against each other in practice and then you see the results on the court. We can be competitive with whoever is in the lineup.
The Mavericks will be hoping to continue their great team feel and all-around contribution when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Day.
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