Kyrie Irving on Monday night did what All-Stars are supposed to do. He put his fingerprints all over a game that came down to the wire.
Unfortunately, neither he nor the Mavericks got the payoff.
He impacted the Mavericks’ 129-128 loss to the Sacramento Kings with not only his scoring, but with a key steal late in the fourth quarter that led to Irving’s whirling bucket in the paint with 15 seconds left in regulation that helped force overtime.
They don’t call him Mr. Fourth Quarter for nothing.
Work like he delivered against the Kings is why Irving is headed to the NBA All-Star Game for the ninth time in his career after being named as an injury replacement on Monday.