Kyrie Irving scored 24 points on his Dallas Mavericks debut in a 110-104 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Irving, 30, joined the Mavericks in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.<br /><br />Irving top scored for the Mavs and equaled the highest score on the floor, just one night after former teammate LeBron James leapt to the NBA's all-time leading scorer and days after leaving Brooklyn.<br /><br />Without superstar Luka Doncic, Irving took control of the Texas franchise, adding seven rebounds and an assist to his tally. <br /><br />While the pair may have to wait to team up, the former Nets star is looking to create a formidable partnership with Doncic. <br /><br />'Just some high-level IQ basketball,' Irving said of what he's most looking forward to.<br /><br />'It's simple when you play with guys that are selfless and do the little things. They don't mind other guys being aggressive out there.'<br /><br />Earlier Wednesday, Irving and Doncic first met as teammates, admitting their new partnership is 'great.' <br /><br />'You can see how good he is. So, I think this should be fun for us,' Doncic told ESPN during the first quarter. <br /><br />'Obviously, the expectations are bigger now... but we just gotta make it work and I think we will.' <br /><br />The 30-year-old did little to dampen expectations which have many in big D dreaming of another championship, though postgame he wasn't interested in hyping up those hopes. <br /><br />'Just take it day-by-day, honestly. I'm just trying to get acclimated, as I said, and get everybody healthy. We'll see where we go from there,' Irving added.<br /><br />Before Irving exited the floor, he gave his debut jersey to the onlooking Floyd Mayweather, who was in attendance at Crypto.com Arena. <br /><br />It seems as if his Dallas debut could not have gone much better, with head coach Jason Kidd also singing Irving's praises postgame. <br /><br />'Knowing Ky and just understanding his skill set and the new atmosphere, he’s excited to be here,' he said. <br /><br />'His leadership down the stretch of getting everyone organized… a lot of great stuff as we build on this new journey with him. It’s going to be fun.'<br /><br />ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins added to the Irving eulogy, tweeting: 'Good luck to any team in the Western Conference trying to stop a Happy Kyrie Irving and Skinny Luka in the postseason. Real Talk!'
