The Dallas Mavericks started the 2026-27 season on the road against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. After a fun first quarter, the second quarter spiraled out of control quickly, and the Mavericks found themselves down by 32 at halftime, which was too big a hole to climb out of.

They'd go on to lose 128-110, just narrowly avoiding being the 7th team to lose by at least 20 points in their season opener this year.

It wasn't the opener that Mavericks fans were hoping to see, even if it did give them the chance to watch Cooper Flagg set yet another NBA record for the points scored by a teenager in a season opener in NBA history.

Wednesday night was also Kyrie Irving's first official game back since he tore his ACL against the Sacramento Kings on March 3rd, 2025, an absence of 597 days.

While he played in two preseason games, that doesn't count in the books as the regular season does.

So, how did Irving play in his first game in nearly 600 days?

Oct 21, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks…