Clippers Eye Big Win Over Mavs After Falling Short In Irving Sweepstakes

Kyrie Irving is set to debut for the Mavericks when they visit the Clippers on Wednesday.
AFP

KEY POINTS

Kyrie Irving is set to make his debut for the Mavericks on Wednesday against the Clippers
The Clippers are favored to prevail over the Mavericks in Irving’s first game
The Clippers are looking to end their regular-season series with the Mavs on a high note

Kyrie Irving is reportedly set to make his debut in a Dallas Mavericks jersey when his new team visits the Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, February 8.

Ironically, the Clippers were one of the teams in pursuit of “Uncle Drew.”

Los Angeles tried to pitch a deal to the Brooklyn Nets that would have sent Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, and several picks according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.

Unfortunately, that failed to materialize with the Clippers needing to add another contract for the transaction to push through.

As a result, the Mavericks ended up getting the one-time NBA champion.

Hence, this could give the Clippers some added motivation to show Irving that he went to the wrong team.

This may all, however, hinge on how well their two All-Star players–Paul George and Kawhi Leonard–will man their offense on Wednesday as the Clippers will be gunning for their third-straight win against the Mavs.

In their last assignment, they blasted, ironically the Irving-less Brooklyn Nets, 124-116.

George led the way with 29 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Leonard chipped in 24 markers and six dimes on his part.

For the Mavericks, it will be interesting to see if Irving fits in with Jason Kidd’s system.

Luka Doncic remains out of commission for Dallas, but other players in the fold stepped up in their win over the Utah Jazz, 124-111.

Josh Green amassed 29 points and six rebounds in the scintillating win over the Jazz, while Jaden Hardy came off the bench to add 29 markers.

“Luka [and Irving] are going to have their amazing nights, but if we want to be a championship team it’s about the rest of us being able to step up,” Green stated in a report by ESPN.

The Clippers are -3.5 spread favorites to prevail and spoil the debut of Irving with the Mavs, who are listed as the +3.5 underdogs.

Meanwhile, the moneyline is -160 for Los Angeles and +135 for Dallas.

The game will be shown on ESPN at 10:00 PM ET with live streaming available via the NBA League Pass.