For all of the well-earned praise that the Oklahoma City Thunder received after surviving inside-the-paint battles with 6-foot-6 “centers” in play, there remained at least a few title-contending foes that appeared well-positioned to test said strategy. Smoothly presenting the NBA’s most alley-oop-heavy team as one at the forefront, Kyrie Irving introduces a highlight, first by maintaining a live dribble amidst both chaos and hounding pressure from the Thunder’s top-ranked defense. Video game character-like in his unpluckable handle, Irving, following a series of spammed, rapid-fire between-the-leg dribbles, prepares his own attack by slicing through the lane, setting the path for a successful alley-oop lob to his highflying teammate. In a game ripe with box score anomalies, Dallas, even after having higher percentages from the field and from 3-point range — and more free throws — fell in a double-digit loss in the NBA Cup Quarterfinals. Among his team’s top contributors even so, Irving strung together 17 points (on 7-of-14 shooting), alongside two rebounds, five assists, one steal, one block, and three 3-pointers. · Dec 11, 2024