Kyrie Is Back: Irving Scores 17 in 22 Minutes in His First Game Since the ACL Tear as the Mavs Beat Houston 132-115 in Macao

Mavs Nation, if you set an alarm for a 5 a.m. tip, it took Kyrie Irving about 10 seconds to make it worth it.

Irving started Sunday in Macao, his first game since he tore his left ACL against Sacramento on March 3, 2025. On the first possession he drove past Jabari Smith Jr. on the baseline for a reverse layup, per Mavs Moneyball's Matt Martinez. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 2-of-6 from three and 3-of-3 at the line, plus three assists and two rebounds in 22 minutes, per CBS Sports and RotoWire, and he didn't commit a turnover. He had 14 of those points in the first half, then played three minutes of the third quarter and hit another three before heading to the bench. Dallas won 132-115 to split the two-game China series.

Dusty May said before the game that the only limit was a minute count. "If I didn't know that he missed last year, I wouldn't be able to tell based on how he's worked in preseason camp," May said, per Dallas Sports Journal's Grant Afseth. He also tried to lower the bar: "I think him playing even poorly for his standards is probably pretty well." Irving cleared it easily.

The rest of the box was encouraging, too. After hoisting 51 threes in Friday's loss, Dallas went 15-of-40 from deep, per Mavs Moneyball. The Mavs forced seven first-quarter turnovers, turned Houston's first 11 into 17 points, led 58-51 at the half and 95-85 after three. Cooper Flagg had 14 points and seven assists in 25 minutes despite a cold start, and he threw an alley-oop to Daniel Gafford on a break Irving started. Max Christie scored 14 on 4-of-7 shooting. Sergio de Larrea had nine points, six rebounds and two steals and was plus-31 in 21 minutes. China Times reports Zaccharie Risacher scored 16 and that Houston rested Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun and Fred VanVleet, so keep the final score in perspective.

Without Irving last season, Dallas went 26-56 and ranked 29th in made threes, per DSJ. May said that Irving and Flagg's "gravity" will make "everyone else exponentially better."

Next up, the Mavs fly home for preseason games Oct. 14 and Oct. 16 at American Airlines Center before the opener Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Central in Houston. Keep up on the Dallas Mavericks page. Radio question: how many minutes should Kyrie get in the home preseason games?

Sources: Mavs Moneyball — Mavericks split Macao series with 132-115 win over Rockets; CBS Sports/RotoWire — Kyrie Irving scores 17 points in preseason debut; Dallas Sports Journal — Kyrie Irving returns as Mavericks set minute range; China Times — Irving scores 17 as Mavericks beat Rockets in Macao.