Kyrie Irving was spectacular on Sunday, putting up a season-high 48 points as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 147-136 in overtime and eliminated them from play-in contention.
But it was the special moment he shared with Luka Doncic at the final buzzer that also attracted a lot of attention.
“We work so hard, and we take on so much of the pressure ourselves,” Irving said when asked about the moment on Bally Sports Southwest.
“We want to be successful, and I think it spills over to our teammates, and they can feel that mentality and it wears off on them.”
Irving added that his 48-point performance took everything he had.
“I’m depleted. Energetic, but I’m depleted,” he said. “We kept battling and kept doing the little things and trusting one another.”
It was a wild night in Dallas, with the Rockets fighting to keep their faint play-in hopes alive and the Mavericks doing everything they could to send them packing.
Houston led by as much as 22 points in the second quarter. But Dallas came all the way back to force overtime on the back of a dramatic Dante Exum three-pointer.
“Trust,” coach Jason Kidd said, summing up the key to the win. “For Luka to trust down the stretch, Exum makes the big shot. Just the trust when the double teams (come).
“We have each other’s backs. We’re playing for something bigger than just the back of the jersey. We’re playing for one another. You can see the chemistry, the celebration at the end. It takes a long time to build that. That just doesn’t happen overnight.
“But the beauty of Kai and Luka hugging there at the end . . . those two trusting in their teammates that were out on the floor was huge.”
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