Irving’s 26 points in the fourth quarter fall short of the Mavs

DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 26 of his 36 fourth quarter points in his home debut for Dallas as the Mavericks rallied from a 26-point deficit, but the Minnesota Timberwolves held on to win a victory by 124-121 on Monday evening.

It was the fourth highest scoring period for Irving of his career. However, he had a bad pass after crossing the 3-point line on the last offensive possession when Dallas had a chance to tie the game. He had traded passes with fellow All-Star Luka Doncic, who finished with 33 points.

First-time All-Star Anthony Edwards scored 32 points and Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who had their biggest lead up 89-63 over Edwards’ jumper in the middle of the third quarter.

Dallas trailed 107-97 with about nine minutes left after a long shot from Irving, who on earlier possession missed Josh Green on a reverse layup.

Irving hit a 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds, shortly after a turnover from Doncic.