KYRIE IRVING TALKS STEPH CURRY LEGACY

"He set the bar for a lot of us point guards of where we want to be," Kyrie Irving told reporters of Stephen Curry after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the shorthanded Golden State Warriors 108-106 on Friday. "We're still chasing his legacy."

I have to say I was skeptical that Kyrie Irving was going to last in Dallas, however in his first full season with the Mavericks Irving has performed extremely well on the court, averaging over 25 points a game, 4.9 rebounds, and dishing the ball off 5.4 times a game. But, maybe more importantly his off-the-court antics that can sink a team in minutes have been non-existent.

Irving went on to acknowledge the rivalry between him and Curry, stating, "It is not a one-on-one battle between me and Steph as much as fans make it."

“It’s just inevitable as a competitor to want to play well, and as somebody like that, he brings the best out of you,” Irving said of Curry. “He’s gonna come in and do what Steph Curry thinks. I’ve just tried to take some of his strengths that he does well and incorporate into my game and I’m sure he’s taking things from me and we just learned from one another and that’s mutual respect.”

“I don’t know if we’ll ever give the fans what they truly want in terms of out of our matchups, but it’s just exciting to be in a league with a guy like that and see him just break records every season,” Irving said. “It’s easy to sit up here and kind of see negative things about a guy like that, but it’s just saw positivity. And when we get on the court, we’re gonna go out each other and that’s the way it should be.”

BACK TO THE GAME
Curry tied the game with a jumper with 13 seconds remaining, capping a 14-point fourth-quarter surge. However, PJ Washington's basket in the final 4 seconds secured the victory for the Mavericks.

In the crucial final play, the Warriors double-teamed Irving off the inbound, leading to Tim Hardaway Jr. attacking the basket and finding an open PJ Washington for the game-winning layup.

Despite the Warriors' efforts, including Curry's 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal, they couldn't overcome the Mavericks without Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga, snapping their 6-game winning streak.

Washington led the scoring with 32 points for the Mavericks, while Irving contributed 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

THE UNDERRATED LINE:
I must admit, I thought Kyrie Irving would sink the Dallas Mavericks ship, but the opposite has happened as he's helped turn the Mavs into legit contenders in the Western Conference - I wonder what the over-under was on that?