IRVING HELPS MAVS SILENCE THE THUNDER

He shows the way in Doncic's absence in 'good test' for Dallas to deny West leaders

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The Dallas Mavericks never gave up even after losing a big lead, and they were rewarded with a National Basketball Association (NBA) victory in front of their home crowd on Jan. 17.

Kyrie Irving scored 25 points as the Mavs brought the high-flying Oklahoma City Thunder down to earth with a 106-98 win over the Western Conference leaders.

Oklahoma City, riding high after their 134-114 rout of Eastern Conference pace-setters Cleveland a day earlier, suffered just their seventh defeat of the season in a roller-coaster duel against a fired-up Dallas side.

Irving was at the heart of the Mavs victory.

He rattled in 11 points in his team's 41-point second quarter that allowed Dallas to open up a 63-43 half-time lead.

But the Thunder, who were missing star man Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with a wrist injury, came roaring back to make it a one-point game going into the last period.

The Mavs, who are still without the injured Luka Doncic, then regrouped superbly to close out the win, outscoring the Thunder 29-22 in the fourth quarter to seal victory.

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