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Lakers fans still have Kyrie Irving fever, especially after watching the All-Star point guard light it up against Los Angeles in the Mavericks’ 111-110 win at Crypto.com Arena on Friday.
Irving, whom the Lakers are reportedly not planning to pursue this summer, dropped 38 points in his return to action after missing Dallas’ last three games with right foot soreness. He carried the team as it was missing fellow superstar Luka Dončić, who has also missed three straight games.
It was one of Irving’s best performances since he was traded to the Mavericks Feb 6.
Lakers and NBA Twitter roasted the team’s front office after Kyrie’s performance.
Dallas Mavericks @dallasmavs
Built different 💪 pic.twitter.com/1815vxCXiX
But it wasn’t Irving who hit the biggest shot of the night. That belonged to Maxi Kleber, who hit the game-winning three at the buzzer off a pass from Irving for his sixth assist. Irving played a hand in most of the big plays for Dallas all night long.
Kleber finished with 10 points and the one made three-pointer.
NBA on TNT @NBAonTNT
MAXI KLEBER BEATS THE LAKERS 🤯 pic.twitter.com/opoBMjTWqG
Dallas’ win had huge seeding implications as it lifted the Mavericks out of the play-in spots and back into the sixth seed in the Western Conference. They now sit just 1.5 games behind the Clippers.
They have now won two games in a row.
Meanwhile, the Lakers fell down a spot to the 10th seed and find themselves in danger of falling out of the playoff picture altogether as they continue to try to stay afloat amid the absence of superstar LeBron James, who is still dealing with a foot injury.
