Mavs' Kyrie Irving Says Thumb Injury Impacts Aggression, Wants to Help Luka Doncic More
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks could not overcome the Boston Celtics' firepower in a 119-110 loss on Monday night. Kyrie Irving, who finished with 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists, felt he could have provided more of a scoring punch to help assist Luka Doncic in the team's efforts.
A factor in Irving's performance was an early swipe down on the ball when guarding Jayson Tatum, which resulted in him spraining his right thumb. He wore a brace when speaking to reporters after the game following an X-ray. On Tuesday, he was listed as questionable with a right thumb sprain entering Wednesday's matchup against the Phoenix Suns.
“Yeah, on the first play of the game, JT [Jayson Tatum] went by me, and I tried to swipe, and he did his kind of trick where he put the ball up and messed up my thumb," Irving said. "That’s why I’m wearing this freaking brace right now, man.”
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It was another early-game injury occurrence for Irving. In his previous performance, he was essentially talked by LeBron James at midcourt, resulting in a hard fall on his hip, making it difficult to assert himself as an aggressive scorer against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Yeah, no, I mean first play of the game, I went to swipe down on JT [Jayson Tatum], and then, just like the other game when I’m getting tacked out there by Bron [LeBron James]," Irving said. "Like unexpected injuries in the first few minutes of the game, and then I’m barely reaching for the basketball. I’m barely going after things."
Despite dealing with various injuries, Irving believed he needed to do a better job of asserting himself in those situations to make plays still. Additionally, he thought that a few of his shot attempts could have been better when evaluating his general performance against the Celtics, ending with him shooting 9-20 from the floor, 3-7 from beyond the arc, and 2-2 on free throws.
"My aggression was a little bit lower than I wanted, and when things happen like that, you’ve got to get out of your own way and do everything you can to win," Irving said. "I’ve got to do a better job of inserting myself in situations on the court and getting better shots. I think a few of them, I felt like they were right at the rim, or they were pretty much contested, but I’ve got to knock those down."
Irving expressed that he must provide Doncic with more support in the second half of the game, causing the Slovenian superstar to force some shots against the Celtics' switching. He finished shooting 12-30 from the floor and 2-8 from deep while going 7-11 on free throws.
"I’ve got to give Luka some help, especially when he’s playing well in the first half," Irving said. "Like that second half, I felt like we could have given him a lot more support, and he was forcing it a little bit like every great scorer does in our league, and we’ve just got to pick him up on the defensive end, make sure we’re there to support each other."
When discussing the anticipated impact of his thumb sprain, Irving sounded confident in playing through it while wearing a protective brace. However, he made clear he would need to be careful with ball placement to avoid getting injured again.
"Yeah, I got an X-ray right after the game. Our doctor said it's just a right-hand sprain," Irving said. "Just wear this as a protective measure and try to avoid people swiping down the next few games and put the ball in a shot pocket where they can't swipe down, and hopefully, I don't get injured again."
