Kyrie Irving Has Confidence-Building Presence For Mavs: 'It's Electric'
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As the week-long NBA All-Star break nears its end, the Dallas Mavericks are rested and ready to make their playoff push in the last 22 games of the season. Dallas currently sits in sixth-place in the Western Conference standings – only 2.5 games behind the third-place Sacramento Kings, but also only 2.0 games ahead of the 12th-place Portland Trail Blazers.
Without a doubt, this upcoming six-game homestand is a crucial one for the Mavs' potential playoff positioning. Although a worn-out, post-trade deadline Mavs roster stumbled into the All-Star break with a three-game losing skid, there is optimism within the franchise that things are about to turn around in a big way ... and a lot of that confidence comes from adding Kyrie Irving to the roster.
On the latest episode of the Run Your Race Podcast, Mavs' Theo Pinson explained how the trade for Irving has injected the team with newfound confidence and optimism going forward.
"It's electric, bro," Pinson said of playing with Irving. "It's electric, it's a presence that we needed. It's a presence that has built confidence team-wide. When you bring that type of talent onto your team, it's scary [for the rest of the league]."
"He just wants peace. ... You can tell that he's [just happy] and in a good place because of the fresh start."
Given Irving's numbers through four games played with the Mavs, we'd have to agree with Pinson that he's happy and in a good place. Irving is averaging 28.3 points, 7.0 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals as a Maverick while shooting 53.3 percent overall, 42.9 percent from deep and 100 percent from the free-throw line.
With Irving, Luka Doncic and the rest of the Mavs' roster rested up and ready to roll, there's a chance Dallas could be a couple of notches higher in the West standings by the time this six-game homestand is over. The talent and the confidence is there, now the Mavs just have to go execute.
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