Kyrie Irving leads the Dallas Mavericks to victory on his 'incredible' debut as he scores 24 points

Kyrie Irving starred for the Dallas Mavericks, dropping 24 points in the 110-104 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Irving top scored for the Mavs and equaled the highest score on the floor, just one night after former teammate LeBron James leapt to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. 

Without superstar Luka Doncic, Irving took control of the Texas franchise, adding seven rebounds and an assist to his tally. 

‘Incredible,’ Irving said of his debut with the Mavs. ‘Had natural nerves out here, so I was just trying to play well but it feels good just to get acclimated. 

‘Been a long 96 hours to say the least. I’m just grateful I got to play the game I love with some guys that were selfless out there.’

While the pair may have to wait to team up, the former Nets star is looking to creating a formidable partnership with Doncic. 

‘Just some high-level IQ basketball,’ Irving said of what he’s most looking forward to.

‘It’s simple when you play with guys that are selfless and do the little things. They don’t mind other guys being aggressive out there.’

Earlier Wednesday, Irving and Doncic first met as teammates, admitting their new partnership is ‘great.’ 

‘You can see how good he is. So, I really think this should be really fun for us,’ Doncic told ESPN during the first quarter. 

‘Obviously, the expectations are bigger now… but we just gotta make it work and I think we will.’ 

The 30-year-old did little to dampen expectations which have many in big D dreaming of another championship, though postgame he wasn’t interested in hyping up those hopes. 

‘Just take it day-by-day, honestly. I’m just trying to get acclimated, like I said, and get everybody healthy. We’ll see where we go from there.’

Before Irving exited the floor, he gave his debut jersey to the onlooking Floyd Mayweather, who was in attendance at Crypto.com Arena.  

It seems as if his Dallas debut could not have gone much better, with head coach Jason Kidd also singing Irving’s praises postgame. 

‘Knowing Ky and just understanding his skill set and the new atmosphere, he’s excited to be here,’ he said. 

‘His leadership down the stretch of getting everyone organized… a lot of great stuff as we build on this new journey with him. It’s going to be fun.’

ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins added to the Irving eulogy, tweeting: ‘Good luck to any team in the Western Conference trying to stop a Happy Kyrie Irving and Skinny Luka in the post season. Real Talk!’