'Pressure' of Mavericks' Irving Continues Dominance Over Knicks
The New York Knicks suffered their first loss of 2024 at the hands of Kyrie Irving and the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks by a 128-124 final on Thursday night. After climbing back from a 21-point deficit to make it a one-point game with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Knicks (22-16) ultimately ran out of steam and couldn't avoid fate.
Although it was surprising to see a team without its MVP candidate gain a 21-point lead on a Knicks squad that had been lights out since trading for OG Anunoby, perhaps the basketball world should’ve seen it coming based on how well Irving has played against New York in recent years. After his latest triumph, Irving now has a 19-2 record in his last 21 games played against the Knicks.
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“I think Kyrie set the tone with two quick 3s,” Knicks forward Julius Randle said of Irving’s hot start. “They just didn’t feel us defensively, our presence at all. So, they had confidence. Tim [Hardaway Jr.] had confidence. Josh Green had confidence. It was just kind of contagious throughout their team.”
Irving ended up with 44 points on 15-26 shooting from the field, including 6-10 from deep and 8-9 from the charity stripe. He also dished out 10 assists and picked up two steals while playing some scrappy defense. It was Irving’s highest-scoring game as a member of the Mavs, and he became only the second player in franchise history — joining Doncic — to have a 40-point, 10-assist game.
"He puts a lot of pressure on you,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Irving. “Our defensive transition to start the game was poor. We turned the ball over. We put them in the open floor and so, they got some easy baskets, they got rhythm, they got confidence early.
“Once a team gets going like that, you know, it is tough to get it turned around. Now, we did fight to get out of that hole. That part was good. First quarter readiness is huge in this league."
To Thibodeau's point, the Knicks let up 44 points in the opening period, their worst in any first quarter this season.
Thibodeau went on to explain why Irving gives the Knicks — or any opposing team for that matter — so many issues when it comes to defensive game planning. It’s a ‘pick-your-poison’ situation, as you can either let Irving go one-on-one in isolation, or you can double him and risk giving up wide-open shots to other players around him.
"It’s a combination of he's an elite shooter, but his ability to handle the ball in tight situations, pick-and-roll, with shiftiness, it pulls your defense,” Thibodeau said.
“[He’s] a magnet. Then you have to commit to him, but you also have to fire out and cover shooters and get your body on people so you're not giving up second-shots. I thought our rebounding was pretty good for the most part, except for that one stretch. That was the game really."
As the Knicks lick their wounds inflicted by Irving in Big D, they won’t have much time to dwell on the loss. They’ll look to bounce back into the win column on Saturday against the severely shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum (8 p.m. ET, MSG).
