3 Studs, 2 duds from Dallas Mavericks' narrow win over Timberwolves

1. Stud - Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving likely played his most complete game of the season in Dallas’ Sunday night victory over Minnesota. Irving finished with 35 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks. Irving shot extremely efficiently as well as he made 6-8 three pointers and went 14-27 from the field overall.

What made Irving’s performance so inspiring though was the amount of winning plays he made down the stretch. Irving stated that Dallas made a point of emphasis to control all the little things in his post-game interview with Bally Sports Southwest, and that was reflected on the court as Irving dove for a loose ball into the Timberwolves bench in the second-half and hustled for rebounds all night.

Irving played excellent off-ball defense as the rotational help defender, and did a great job at deflecting passes all night as well. On the offensive end, Irving was extremely persistent in getting to his spots when he was tasked with running the offense, and made multiple contested fade-away jump-shots from the mid-range to keep Dallas ahead.

Irving shot great from three-point land too as aforementioned, and was coming off of curl-offs and moving well off-ball to set himself open for some great looks all night. Irving scored eight points in the fourth quarter for Dallas and managed the game extremely smart down the stretch in tandem with Doncic, as the duo combined for 69 points on the night.

Irving took time to wish everyone in Dallas a happy Sunday in his post-game interview as he’s always trying to spread good vibes, and it certainly was given the Mavericks’ electric team-oriented win as well as the Dallas Cowboys' clinching of the NFC East.

Stay plugged in with us for everything pertaining to the Dallas Mavericks, as we look ahead to Dallas’ next game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night.