Irving nets 36 but loses in his home debut for Mavericks
Kyrie Irving scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter in his home debut for Dallas as he tried to rally the Mavericks from a 26-point deficit, but the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 124-121 victory late Monday.
Irving had the highestscoring fourth quarter of his career. But he made a bad pass after stepping inside the three-point line on the final possession when Dallas had a chance to tie the game. He had exchanged passes with All-Star teammate Luka Doncic, who finished with 33 points.
Irving and Doncic fell to 0-2 while playing together. Irving has played four games overall for Dallas since being acquired from Brooklyn in a trade.
Elsewhere: Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Josh Hart added a season-high 27 in his second game with his new team and host New York snapped a nine-game losing streak against Brooklyn with a 124-106 win. … Andrew Wiggins had 29 points and seven rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 27 points, and host Golden State beat Washington 135-126. …
Damian Lillard had 40 points, including eight three-pointers, to lead host Portland past the Los Angeles Lakers 127-115.
LeBron James missed his third straight game for the Lakers with a sore left ankle. … LaMelo Ball had 30 points and 15 assists,
Terry Rozier added 29 points and Charlotte held off Atlanta 144-138 at home to snap a sevengame skid. … Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points and led host Cleveland to its seventh straight win, 117-109 over San Antonio as the nose-diving Spurs matched a team record with their 13th consecutive loss. … James Harden had 29 points and 10 assists against his former team while Tyrese Maxey scored 26 off the bench as Philadelphia beat Houston 123-104.
ETC.
NFL: The Arizona
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Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts each hired a coordinator from the NFC championship Philadephia Eagles to be their head coach. Arizona hired Eagles defensive coordinator
Jonathan Gannon. Gannon, 40, helped rebuild a defense that was vital in the Eagles reaching the Super Bowl. The Colts chose Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. Each of the Colts’ past two full-time hires were offensive coordinators for Eagles teams that made the Super Bowl —
Frank Reich was the other. Steichen becomes the league’s third 37-yearold head coach. Steichen, who has a penchant for turning promising young quarterbacks into stars, becomes the Colts’ fourth coach since 2017 and they’re likely to be starting yet another different quarterback on opening day, extending their streak to seven straight seasons.
Golf: Tiger Woods
● feels good enough to play at Riviera, his first tournament with a cut and without a cart since the British Open last July. He already is looking ahead to the Masters, and he thinks he can win. “I would not have put myself out here if I didn’t think I could beat these guys,” Woods said Tuesday ahead of the Genesis Invitational, which has attracted 19 of the top 20 players in the world. Woods is 47 and has not won since October 2019.