Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving issues crucial Game 5 message before Thunder clash

Kyrie has played in 84 career postseason games. He played a pivotal role in helping the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA Finals in 2016. Irving has averaged 23.1 points and 5.0 assists during his playoff career, according to StatMuse.

The Mavs star has done a tremendous job of setting up teammates and providing leadership during the 2024 NBA playoffs. He has yet to find his groove from a scoring standpoint against the Thunder, however. In the Mavericks’ four Western Conference Semifinals games, Irving is averaging just 15 points per outing. He is recording 7.5 assists per game, though.

The Thunder have placed an extra emphasis on defending Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. They are both seeing intense defensive coverage, with Oklahoma City practically daring other Mavs players to step up. PJ Washington has accepted the challenge and has performed well, but the Mavericks still need their stars to make things happen in the scoring department.

One has to imagine that Irving and Doncic, two of the best players in the entire NBA, will get things going sooner rather than later.

Kyrie Irving providing important leadership for Mavericks

Whether he is scoring at a high rate or not, Irving’s leadership is of the utmost importance. Dallas features a fairly young roster with a number of players having either minimal or no postseason experience.

Irving shared another message after Game 4 to help keep the situation in perspective.

“Just continue to focus on the things that we’re doing well,” Irving said. “There’s some things that we can clean up. There’s some effort plays that we’re gonna look at where we weren’t in the right positioning and we didn’t come up with the basketball. There was one time where I assumed one of my big guys was gonna come get the rebound and Jalen Williams comes and gets the offensive rebound and they get another opportunity. So, they’re playing desperation basketball and we gotta play the same.

“When you’re in a series like this against the number one team in the West it’s gonna take all 15 guys doing the right things… Just staying even-keeled and staying poised, that’s what the playoffs is about.”

A leader like Kyrie can change the dynamic of a postseason series. Pure talent may win you a lot of games during the regular season. Talent combined with the ability to remain poised is how you win games in the NBA playoffs.

In the end, Kyrie Irving knows that there will be conversations to be had about the Mavs following their Game 4 defeat. He also understands that staying focused and not letting outside distractions deter the team’s poise is pivotal.

“Let the external conversations do what they do. Where it’s just ‘what’s gonna happen with the Mavs? What’s gonna happen with this?’ For us in this locker room it’s just staying focused and staying poised on what the mission is at hand and that’s just to finish the series as best we can.”