NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the Dallas Mavericks to Barclays center on Tuesday for Kyrie Irving’s return to Brooklyn for the first time since his trade from the team last season and lost 119-107.
For the Nets, Mikal Bridges had 28 points and four assists while Royce O’Neale had 18 points and six rebounds off the bench. Cam Thomas had 16 points and Jalen Wilson had 10 points off the bench.
For the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving had 36 points and five assists while Luka Doncic had 35 points, 18 rebounds, and nine assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 14 points and Josh Green had 12 points.
In the first half, the Mavericks took control of this game by attacking the Nets’ defensive scheme of doubling Luka Doncic on the catch. To make matters worse for Brooklyn, Irving scored 21 points in the half and had little difficulty making shots.
In the second half, the Nets actually played better than the Mavericks thanks to some of Dallas’ supporting cast missing shots that they were making in the first half. However, Irving and Doncic proved to be too much for Brooklyn as the Mavericks never let the game get too close thanks to the efforts of their superstar duo.
Here are your Nets player grades following Tuesday’s loss: