欧文伤愈季前赛复出砍17分 独行侠胜火箭后发声

The Dallas Mavericks picked up the first win of the 2026 preseason over the Houston Rockets on Sunday, the final of two games in China.

It was our first look at Kyrie Irving on the floor since he tore his ACL in March 2025, and while it was just the preseason, any playing time for Kyrie is great to see.

In his first "game" back, Irving put up 17 points and three assists, with 14 of those points coming in the first half. He played about 22 minutes, which is right around where I was expecting it to land for Irving's first action. They're going to be careful with him throughout the season, even if he looks like the same old Kyrie Irving.

After the game, Irving spoke on the emotions of being back on the floor.

"A lot of emotions leading into it. Grateful that Dusty [May] called the first play for me. Had my mind up to just attack... Just felt good to get that out of the way," Irving said. "I was imagining how it was gonna go, thinking about how it was gonna go, just excited that I got that out of the way."

Irving will have his official NBA return on October 21st, which will also be against the Houston Rockets, but this preseason game was great for him to knock off the rust.

We're not sure if he'll play in the remaining preseason games, or even how much if he does, but he's probably itching to be on the floor after months of workouts and practices.

Can Kyrie Irving Help Make the Mavericks a Contender?

The Dallas Mavericks can't afford another season as poor as last year's 26-56 record. They have a budding superstar, Cooper Flagg, who wants no part of losing.

Kyrie Irving also isn't getting any younger. While he'll still likely be a really good player after this injury, he's always been at his best as the second option.

Irving will go a long way toward fixing a lot of the team's issues from last year, when they had some of the worst playmaking and three-point shooting in the NBA. They could still use a little more playmaking, though.

We've yet to see Marcus Sasser in the preseason, so we don't know how he'll contribute, and while Sergio De Larrea's playmaking looks special, he's still a rookie getting used to the physicality of the NBA.

The Mavericks should be a better team with Irving back and in the Play-In race. Anything more than that would be a little too optimistic for now.

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