Kyrie Irving's return to Mavericks spoiled by Rockets' surprising game plan

Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving, in his first regular-season NBA game in 597 days, was the focal point of the Houston Rockets' scouting report.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka witnessed Irving's offensive impact in a preseason loss to the Mavericks in Macao, China. To learn from the past, he sent multiple bodies to defend Irving throughout the Mavericks' 128-110 loss to the Rockets on Wednesday.

Related:5 thoughts: Starters' lack of rhythm leads to Mavs' season-opening blowout

Irving finished with 15 points and four rebounds, but only attempted nine shots in nearly 24 minutes of action. After the game, Irving admitted he was surprised to see so much defensive attention despite his long layoff.

"I gotta do a better job of leading us out and just not necessarily playing so timid and getting some shots up and aggressively attacking double teams," Irving said after the game.

Houston forced Irving into four turnovers, which tied Cooper Flagg and PJ Washington for the most in a Dallas uniform. Houston began the game with Amen Thompson guarding Irving, while Jabari Smith Jr. was matched up defensively against Flagg. Overall, the Mavericks committed 21 turnovers, leading to 32 points for the Rockets.

Watch:Mavs, Rockets insiders break down opener

Throughout the offseason, Irving played in several pick-up games against his fellow NBA peers to ramp up in his recovery from a torn ACL suffered on March, 3, 2025. With more than a full season away from playing a regular season game, he takes the aggressive attention as a form of respect and plans to watch film of Wednesday's game to find ways to be more effective.

"I take that respect very personal, just knowing that although I've been out for a while, they still scout me," Irving said. "Ime was on record saying he saw me in the summertime as well and going against Amen a few times. We're very familiar with each other's games. I just gotta do a better job of being aggressive."

Irving played the second-fewest minutes of any Mavericks starter, which he says is part of the plan to manage his comeback season. The lack of game time made it difficult for Irving to gain an early rhythm because he played the first four minutes of the first quarter and went to the bench. He finished the final 3:37 of the first quarter and played until the 10:21 mark of the second, when he was relieved by Marcus Sasser, who scored 17 points off the bench.

"Just gotta get used to them," Irving said. "I'm used to playing 12 minutes through or 11 minutes, 10 minutes through and I gotta do a better job of adjusting to what our game plan is and just getting guys involved."

Flagg led the Mavericks with nearly 33 minutes of game action, and he nearly tied that mark on the scoreboard. He led all scorers with 32 points and looked as if he didn't miss a beat from his scoring tear to end his historic rookie season. He had 13 trips to the free-throw line and made 11 of them count, while adding five rebounds and three steals. As for his new on-court partnership with Irving, he said the Mavericks need to do a better job of alleviating the pressure for their vocal leader.

"Kai's just a one-of-a-kind talent," Flagg said. "So obviously, he's going to be really good for us and we just gotta do a better job, me included, of just helping him, getting him some easier looks."

The Mavericks will be back in action on Friday, when they play the Indiana Pacers. That game marks the front end of their first back-to-back set of the season, with San Antonio as the back end opponent in Saturday's season opener. It is unclear if Irving will play in both games or sit Friday, but he's eager to help his team get back on track.

"I'm chomping at the bit a little bit, but at the same time, it's a big picture here," Irving said.

Subscribe

This article originally published at Kyrie Irving's return to Mavericks spoiled by Rockets' surprising game plan.