On Sunday evening, the Golden State Warriors will host Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks in San Francisco.
Irving comes into the night averaging 24.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals per contest while shooting 50.4% from the field and 47.4% from the three-point range in 23 games.
Before the game, Warriors star Draymond Green spoke about the challenges of guarding Irving.
Green (via The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis): “He can score from anywhere… With Kyrie, it’s everywhere on the court, because he is an elite level scorer at every level on the basketball court… As crazy at this sounds BD, Luka probably has more offsensive deficiencies than Kyrie… Kyrie literally does not have a deficiency on the offensive end. It’s crazy.”
The Mavs and Warriors last faced off in November.
Irving had 21 points, three rebounds and six assists while shooting 8/13 from the field and 1/3 from the three-point range in 36 minutes of playing time.
That said, the Warriors won by a score of 120-117.
Green finished the victory with 11 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks while shooting 3/6 from the field and 2/4 from the three-point range in 32 mintues of playing time.
Green and Irving have faced off in the NBA Finals multiple times during their careers.
The Warriors went 2-1 in those matchups.
Irving had one of the most famous shots in NBA history when he made the game-winning three in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.
