Kyrie Irving flashes vintage form on 1st NBA bucket in almost 600 days
· Yahoo Sports
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The Dallas Mavericks ushered in the Dustin May era for the first time on Wednesday. But Cooper Flagg meshing with the ex-Michigan coach wasn’t the only thing on the mind of fans. Kyrie Irving made his return from a torn ACL against the Houston Rockets.
Fans got treated to vintage “Uncle Drew” in Irving’s 2026-27 debut.
Irving banked this jump shot by driving to the key, then elevating himself over the defense to hit his first basket in nearly 600 days.
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WELCOME BACK Kyrie Irving!!
Kyrie gets the bucket to fall for his first NBA POINTS in 597 days 😤💪 pic.twitter.com/ZVltPcBfa8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 22, 2026
That basket cut the lead to 22-20 in favor of the Rockets. Irving previously went down hard back on March 3, 2025 and wound up missing the entire 2025-26 campaign with his knee tear. But the franchise dropped an emotional hype video before his return.
May handed Irving nine minutes on the floor. Irving also grabbed two rebounds and dished one assist. But Houston started to pull away and jumped to a 56-36 lead.
Still, the Mavericks’ opener lured out major emotions. Irving spent more than a year away from the floor and left many believing he was done. He also later watched his team deliver a change in leadership, as his coach Jason Kidd was fired. So Irving got left with coming back and putting his trust in a past college basketball coach to resume his career.
But Irving decided to hand May a chance, ultimately re-teaming with Flagg, PJ Washington, Max Christie and this team, teaming with rookie Morez Johnson Jr. The chemistry hasn’t become instant right away, but Irving’s two-pointer became enough to convince fans that the vintage version of himself is on his way back to form.
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