As soon as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in Game 7 on Sunday, Anthony Edwards shifted his focus to the next matchup. During the post-game interview on Inside the NBA, Ant-Man claimed that he would be the one taking on Kyrie Irving in the West Finals, “My matchup gonna be Kyrie, so it’s gonna be fun. We gonna see what I can do vs. him.” While everyone loved Edwards’s competitive mindset that night, his comments came back to haunt him tonight as Kyrie unleashed ‘Uncle Drew’ mode on the young Wolves star and led the Mavs to victory. And after the game, Kyrie revealed the role Ant’s comments played in his incredible thirty-point outing.

Following Dallas’ impressive 108-105 victory at Target Center, Kyrie joined the Inside the NBA panel for a quick interview. And Charles Barkley used this opportunity to ask Kyrie if Edwards calling him out on Live TV while Ky was sitting at home chilling bothered him in any way, “I know that had to irk you a little bit.” Although Kyrie denied being irked by the callout, he claimed, he “Used it as a motivation.” and burst out laughing.

While Kyrie was surprised to hear his name out of nowhere, he took it as a sign of respect from Ant-Man and knew the challenge he was about to face in this series. “You’re right. I was at home with my family watching Game 7 and Ant comes out and says ‘I got Kyrie.’” Knowing Edwards would try to pressure him early in Game 1, the veteran guard responded brilliantly and finished with thirty points. More importantly, he set the tone for his team by scoring thirteen points in the first quarter and annihilating the Wolves defense with his aggression. And maybe, we might not have seen this side of Kyrie if Edwards hadn’t called him out.

After the game, there was another player who was grateful for the performance that Kyrie showcased on the court.

Luka Doncic was thankful for Kyrie’s breakout performance

In most playoff games so far, Luka Doncic has been the one who comes out all guns blazing and delivers early blows with his offensive skills. Contrastingly, Kyrie takes his time to settle in and picks up in the second half, more importantly during crunch time. However, their roles were reversed tonight, as Kyrie was the one who kept the Mavs in the game in the first half while Luka tried to find his shot. And the Slovenian Sensation was all praise for his co-star after the game, “Amazing. He got us going.” Claiming that the Mavs would have been down twenty points in the first half if it wasn’t for Kyrie, Luka gave props to the veteran guard.

Then, Doncic laughed about playing a different part in the game than usual, “We switch roles this time.” After Kyrie’s first-half showcase, Luka also regained his rhythm and scored fifteen points in the final quarter. Later, he finished the job by hitting a mid-range jumper in the final seconds to extend his team’s lead to four points. So far, the Luka and Kyrie connection has worked well for the Mavs with both complimenting each other perfectly. They’ll surely hope for an encore come Friday.