Charles Barkley Got Kyrie To Talk About Using Ant’s ‘I Got Kyrie’ Statement As Motivation For Game 1

The Dallas Mavericks were able to go on the road and take Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in Minnesota, beating the Timberwolves 108-105, thanks to a sensational performance from their star duo.

Luka Doncic took over with 15 fourth quarter points to close things out, but early in the game it was Kyrie Irving that carried the offense to keep things close as Minnesota (namely Jaden McDaniels) was raining down threes and the Mavs were ice cold from deep.

It was the opposite of how Irving has played most of this postseason, as he’s tended to spend the first half being deferential to get his teammates rolling and looked to pick up his scoring late. In Game 1, he was the aggressor early looking for his own shot, and after the game he explained that he was looking to set the tone for a young team that had, mostly, not been on that stage.

However, Charles Barkley wanted to know if he didn’t have a little additional juice to make a statement after Anthony Edward said after Game 7 “I got Kyrie.” Irving couldn’t help but smile and confirm that did give him some added motivation, while also being quick to note that’s why Edwards is such a great player and leader because he wants to take that challenge.

The Mavs star duo simply outplayed the Wolves top two on Wednesday, and that made all the difference, even though Minnesota’s supporting cast had a much better offensive night than Dallas’ role guys. Irving kept them afloat early and Doncic brought them home late, and it was the kind of performance the Mavs had in mind when they brought the two together. Now the Wolves are the team that will need to find that added motivation to remind everyone why they are the home team in this series in Game 2, and that will start with Edwards being the one looking to be assertive early to set the tone for his team like Irving did on Wednesday.