Kyrie Irving’s first home game back gave Dallas a welcome glimpse of its offensive possibilities. It also came with a warning large enough to require its own seat at American Airlines Center.
Irving scored 18 points, made 5 of 7 3-pointers and delivered five assists in 25 minutes Friday as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Mavericks 135-111. Ahead of Wednesday’s opener in Houston, his shooting and distribution supplied clear contributions. The defense surrounding him looked nowhere near finished.
Irving provided more than a jumper
Five made threes would have been enough to make the home return encouraging. The passing made it more meaningful. Irving helped connect Dallas’ creators instead of turning every possession into a solo examination of his scoring touch.
Morez Johnson Jr. assisted Irving on a first-quarter three, giving Dallas a useful pass from a returning frontcourt player to its veteran guard. In the second quarter, Zaccharie Risacher found Irving for a 15-foot pull-up with 9:46 remaining. Near the end of that period, Sergio de Larrea set him up for a 24-foot three.
Those exchanges show Irving participating in possessions alongside other Dallas players, both supplying a pass and finishing a teammate’s delivery.
He finished 6-for-12 from the field without a turnover. That is a clean offensive sample, even with the appropriate preseason asterisk. Irving missed a layup, missed a 25-foot pull-up and went just 1-for-4 at the foul line. He also did not return after the third quarter, leaving the game with his offensive contribution established but hardly every question answered.
Atlanta made the warning impossible to miss
The game began competitively enough. Atlanta led 39-34 after one quarter, and Irving’s pull-up brought Dallas within nine early in the second. Then the Hawks turned a 49-40 game into a 63-41 problem as Atlanta scored 14 of the next 15 points. Jalen Johnson’s dunk completed that burst, but the damage had already spread through the possession battle.
Dallas shot 8-for-24 in the second quarter and made only 1 of 10 threes. Atlanta did not need one spectacular offensive explosion to create separation; it kept adding pressure through shooting, rebounding and free throws. The Hawks finished 21-for-51 from beyond the arc, eight more makes than Dallas. That produced a 24-point advantage from three-point scoring, matching the 24-point final margin.
Atlanta received 25 points from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who made six threes. Aaron Wiggins added 19 points off the bench, while Jock Landale scored 16 and made three threes. The variety matters. Dallas was not simply burned by one shooter who wandered into a hot evening; several Hawks found ways to contribute while the Mavericks struggled to close the possession.
