The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder by a final score of 106-98 on Friday night. Kyrie Irving, who did not play on Wednesday due to a lumbar back sprain, returned on Friday and scored 25 points to go along with five assists and five rebounds.

Kyrie Irving scored 25 points as the Dallas Mavericks brought the high-flying Oklahoma City Thunder down to earth with a 106-98 victory over the Western Conference leaders on Friday. Oklahoma City, riding high after their rout of Eastern Conference pace-setters Cleveland on Thursday,

Dallas improved to 23-19 while Oklahoma City remain top of the West with a 34-7 record. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Inconsistency is about the only consistent theme of the Dallas Mavericks’ injury-riddled season. The Mavericks began most of the new year with the task of playing without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie Irving finished the win with 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and one steal while shooting 9/19 from the field and 3/8 from the three-point range in 39 mintues of playing time. The superstar guard also made NBA history by moving ahead of Basketball Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant (1,