Mavs’ Kyrie Irving Climbs NBA All-Time Scoring List vs. Lakers; Top 100 This Season?

After the Dallas Mavericks blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter and trailed 101-99 in the final minute of the game, Irving nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, followed by two clutch free throws, to seal the win. Irving finished with 28 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals while shooting 11-22 overall and 4-8 from deep.

“Resilience and no fear attitude,” Irving said. “We knew that we had them against the ropes. We should have won by a little bit more, but they’re a great team, and you have to give them credit … They played more physically, and then they made us make tough decisions on the double teams on Luka and myself, so moving forward, we’ll be better.”

Along with his late-game heroics, Irving also made some history by continuing his climb up the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Irving passed former NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire to become No. 118 on the all-time scoring list with 16,003 career points.

Irving will likely move up to No. 116 on the list during Saturday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers, as he’ll only need four points to pass Rasheed Wallace and former Mavs player and current play-by-play commentator Derek Harper.

At Irving’s current pace, he’ll score more than 1,700 points this season if he ends up playing in at least 72 games. If that happens, that will comfortably elevate him into the NBA’s top 100 by the end of the year. So far, Irving is averaging 24.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 47.6 percent overall and 39.5 percent from deep.

It will be hard to accomplish this season, but there’s a chance Irving could potentially catch his head coach, Jason Kidd, for No. 89 on the all-time scoring list. Kidd finished his career with 17,529 points, so Irving is 1,527 points away from passing him.

Although the scoring accolades are things Irving will be proud of when reflecting back on his career one day, his main focus is on helping the Mavs win a championship. If he keeps playing at the level he’s currently at while also meshing well with Luka Doncic, Dallas will be an extremely tough out come postseason time.