DALLAS — Despite dealing with a plethora of injuries, the Dallas Mavericks still found a way to earn a 111-107 victory against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 42 points in the win. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry scored 25 points and added eight assists to lead Golden State. After the game, Irving and Curry discussed playing against one another.

Stephen Curry admits Kyrie Irving is “hard to stop”

Curry knows how difficult Irving is to contain when he finds his groove.

“That's what great players do, they respond in all types of adversity,” Curry said of Irving. “The thing about it is we give a guy like that, especially in that first half, we had a couple breakdowns and he was able to take advantage of… That just gives him even more life, more energy than he probably already had coming into the game. He made a lot of big shots. We tried to make it tough on him, but when he gets going it's kind of hard to stop.”

Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry are extremely familiar with each other, having had many crucial matchups over the years. Curry's Warriors and Irving's former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, went head-to-head on multiple occasions in the NBA Finals during the 2010's decade. Now, Irving is leading the Mavs against the Warriors.

Irving explains his respect for Curry

Kyrie explained why he has the utmost respect for Curry following Wednesday's game.

“It's incredible, man,” Irving said of playing against Curry. “I've gone on record saying that, that's the guy for us as point guards, outside of Magic (Johnson) and Isaiah Thomas, Steph has etched himself as one of the most legendary players of all-time. For me, that's me just testing my game against him… When you go against the best of the best you want to play well. We know each other's games very well, lot of matchups. But at the same time, some of the things he's accomplished, I'm still trying to accomplish, to be a multi-time championship winner in our league. It's the toughest thing to do.

“You know, he's an MVP of our league, two-time… No jealousy or any hate, it's just straight competition, being able to admit when someone else is great. You're taking things from their game, they're taking things from your game. It's mutual respect, that's how I feel about it.”

Mavericks' outlook following victory against Warriors

Kyrie Irving and the Mavs took care of business on Wednesday. The team, as mentioned, continues to deal with injuries. Yet, they were able to earn a pivotal win.

Between injuries and fans protesting the Luka Doncic trade, the Mavericks have battled adversity in recent weeks. They will receive a much-needed rest with the All-Star break right around the corner. However, Dallas has one more game before the break.

On Thursday, the Mavs will host the Miami Heat in the second of a back-to-back. It will also be a back-to-back for Miami, as the Heat were defeated by the Thunder 115-101 on Wednesday.

Kyrie and the Mavericks will play the Heat on Thursday night at 8:30 PM EST. Dallas would certainly love to head into the break fresh off two consecutive victories.