Kyrie Irving's first live possession in 586 days ended the way Dallas wanted the night to start.
The Mavericks called a play for him on the opening tip of Sunday's NBA China Games rematch with Houston at Venetian Arena in Macao. Irving caught the ball on the right wing, drove past Jabari Smith Jr. for a reverse layup, and the sellout crowd answered, ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported. Dallas went on to win 132-115.
Irving finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting in 22 minutes and added three assists, NBA.com and ESPN reported. It was his first game since he tore the ACL in his left knee against Sacramento on March 3, 2025.
He missed all of the 2025-26 season after a Grade 2 calf strain in December interrupted rehabilitation and factored into the decision to shut him down after the All-Star break, he said this week.
First play, then the rhythm question
"A lot of emotions leading into it," Irving told ESPN. "Grateful that Dusty [May] called the first play for me. Had my mind made up just to attack. ... I saw that baseline open up a little bit, and it just felt good to get that out of the way."
He added that he had been imagining and dreaming about how the return would go and was glad to get the first finish out of the way. May had sat him Friday in a 135-117 loss to the same Rockets as part of a plan to ease him back, with Irving cleared for only one of the two Macao games.
May said afterward he did not expect Irving to play this well after such a long layoff, citing game rhythm, and called the performance a testament to Irving's work.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka, whose club faced Irving for the second straight night, told ESPN that Irving was "back to being who he is" and would only improve as he regained rhythm in real games.
