NBA Gametime reacts to Dallas Mavericks beat Raptors 136-125; Luka Doncic 30 Pts; I. Quickley 28 Pts
Uh Mavericks get the win tonight 136 to 125 lad donic with a triple double 31 and 16 assists Kyrie Irving had 29 and Kyrie Irving I’m told is with us from north of the Border after the win tonight there he is in the flesh hey
Kyrie good to have you with us uh first and most important question what’ you get Luca for his birthday I haven’t got anything I haven’t got anything for him yet um but I’m looking forward to celebrating with him tonight so we’ll have a good time in Toronto okay second
Night of a back toback you’ve got a little time on your hands um yeah what went right tonight take me through the last 24 hours I know you play a million games you’ve been through exciting wins exciting losses before I don’t know if you’ve ever been through something like
What happened last night in Cleveland emotionally what’s it been like the last 24 hours uh goodness it was uh right after the game I I had to share with the guys in locker room um we got to let some of those emotions out um you know especially after losing like that we we
Battled all the way back against the Cavs and uh felt like we had the game under control but uh those little minute details towards the end of the game got the best of us and you know just a unfortunate situation um but we got a
Chance to learn from it tonight uh we we could have came into Toronto and uh not had the energy had every excuse and I think you guys know I was watching um a lot of NBA games on the back to back and you lose like that anything could happen
So um you know when you’re on someone else’s home floor you try to take the lessons and move forward and and take the positives and see how you can grow on that krie this is Isaiah first I’m going to give you a virtual hug and tell
You that I love you brother and I miss you one of my favorite people in the world apprciate now that that’s over I appreciate you Z yeah let me let me ask you this question how’s the adjustment been uh since the trade deadline uh bringing in you know gatford
And Washington how have they adjusted to the team and how have you helped those guys adjust to the team uh I think they’ve adjusted well uh when they when they came into our Dallas locker room and uh you can see the guys uh you know around them just waiting to
Give them dab give them hug and welcome them to our Squad uh we we felt like they were great additions uh we’ve been keeping a steady eye on them on their on their other teams and them coming into our team at this point in the season we
Feel like it gives us a better chance to win a championship um it’s not guaranteed but we know we got to put those incremental Progressive steps together and and uh integrate them into what we got going uh we we’ve had a a pretty good season um outside of
Injuries uh so now I feel like we have the bench to to match with any team in the league and overpower those guys um when we need to um it gives me and Luca a chance to rest on the offensive end at times and also um press up on the
Defensive end because we can become a switching group so they definitely add some depth and I’m happy to have them on our team Kyrie Sam Mitch here first of all I I’m with you I think that trade puts you guys in the thick of thing you guys needed size you brought in two
Tough guys that are skilled also so but my question is it’s been all this talk about you and Luca can two great guys who can handle the ball who can facilitate who can score it all levels can they play together and you guys have made this seem seamless what is it with
You and Luca that makes this thing work because we’ve seen in the past it don’t always work when you got two guys as talented as you two have either you guys have these conversations about their nights where you check your ego and just say look man at the end of the day it’s
About the W and nothing else hey you guys know how this league goes with some of our peers and um you know when you’re playing next to another talented individual player uh you know sometimes it could be that adjustment and sometimes it looks really good and
Sometimes it get it can get really ugly and and those are the ups and downs that you have to be able to weather through uh we we’ve had plenty of conversations me and Luca but it’s really a team effort uh from J kid uh to upper management um you know to reassuring us
That we shouldn’t have to worry about the external noise about who we are we we know who we are we’re very talented but I I think what gets overshadowed for me and Lucas specifically um is just how good of teammates we are um you know on
And off the floor we are are very selfless obviously I have a ton of respect for him he has a ton of respect for me but we know we’re not going anywhere without galvanizing this group together and holding each other to that high standard I think the true Testament
Of greatness is being next to other great players and being able to be yourself and not allow that ego to get the best of you uh that that’s the challenge in the uh professional ranks when you’re playing with other talented players is just adjusting without losing
Yourself in the process so we have a bunch of talented guys on our team and sometimes it’s going to be their night sometimes it’s going to be other guys night but you got to still be able to support them and uh get ready for the big picture was the championship you
Know Kyrie it says a lot about you as a as a person and also as a player that you know some of the greatest players playing today in our league have all wanted to play with you from Kevin Durant to LeBron James and now Luca what
What makes you such the perfect fit with with with all these players and why do they want to play with you and and how does it all work uh well first things first I don’t take any of my time uh with the some of the greatest ever play I don’t I don’t
Ever take my time for granted with those guys they’ve taught me a lot I’ve taught them a lot um specifically being with Brun and um a lot of tough battles um in the Eastern Conference and then playing with KD um in Brooklyn and also playing with uh Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown you
Know I’ve had a lot of guys a lot of talented guys that have pushed me to be the person I am today the player I am today uh so I I feel the same about Luca um he’s a good Pace guy to be next to he’s going to continue to push you and
When you see a guy getting 73 40s 13 and 12 assists um you know you have no choice but to uh get in that weight room continue to stay in the gym and um not try to match him but be along for the ride and uh make your mark on the game
Uh I think that’s the most important aspect that I’ve taken out of all this is just to be at peace while also when you get out there just show them what you got and uh earn the respect to your teammates every single night and uh the
The best that’s that’s what the best do hey before we let you go by my math which is not always great you have 23 games left in the season you’ve been around long enough to understand the Cadence of the season the rhythm of it all what would you like to see your team
Improve on as you get ready for the postseason we in a stacked Western Conference uh it’s my first official season going through the Western Conference and I’m seeing um how uh High intense games towards the second half of the season are going to go uh so I’m
Just trying to prepare my teammates for that and they’re preparing me and uh I think it’s just about us focusing ourselves and and putting ourselves in a great position every single night um by starting off the game first minute and um you know following the game plan and
Understanding that there is a big picture but don’t put too much pressure on ourselves we got to take it one one quarter at a time okay I got one more last question of tell me about them new shoes and and can and can I get a pair
We need here to of course come over to AA guys come over to Ala man you know we got enough room um and and I I wanted to share with you guys too um you know the first signature athlete that I signed was my dad uh so I’m I’m really happy
That I got a chance and opportunity to do that for him and um you know it’s nothing like uh putting uh that that same love into my father that he poured into me to sacrifices all of his worth it so over here at a man it’s a real
Family brand and I’m glad that I could announce you know he’s my first signature athlete and we’ll continue to grow this with other athletes and artists around the world that are continuing to do their revolutionary work well Sam and I a free agent exactly I got you no no no that’s what I’m
Saying we if I sign my dad I’m coming to y’all come on come on congratulations conges are well man pretty great gift for your dad as well congrats on the win we’ll talk to you soon thanks guys peace be well all right Kyrie Irving Kyrie Irving with us from Toronto where they
Get the win tonight it’s a pretty cool thing to do for your dad I mean awesome right and and you know the the type of person and and I’ve gotten to know Kyrie extremely well and the type of person that he is you know in terms of love and
Giving you know the things that he does for people in the community yes the checks that he write yes you know just just helping people not even ever meeting them you know I I remember like a couple of years ago uh they played a game uh in Los Angeles and instead of
Him taking the bus back he walked on the street with the fans with the little kids and and I know how I felt when I was was a little kid when when Jerry Sloan gave me his gym shoes right and and he took the time to just acknowledge
Me but if an NBA player would have walked with me a couple of blocks and then just shared and talked to me man that would have made my life forever and and Kyrie does that you know so often with little kids so kudos to him he does
So much man for people all the time you read little tidbits about people he’ll read some in the paper about somebody struggling and then next thing you know he’ll reach out to him and and help him he’s just he’s an incredible athlete but he’s a better human being man and I’m
Telling you what I can’t wait to the playoffs it’s G to be brutal it’s gonna be brutally fun to watch these team because we may have in the first round of the playoff we may have a bunch of game series going to seven games think about that you never not not with the
One seed and stuff see those teams go seven games but we’re going to see some seven game series in the first round of the Western Conference see some real star power at the bottom of the bracket like maybe we’ve never seen before think about what what if the Lakers and and in
Golden State have to play in the play in that could absolutely happen Yes Fore Fore foree foree Spe foreign fore foree fore fore fore for Foree fore foree spe speee for foree speee spee spe speee foree fore for spee foree spee select guys select for
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