The stars were out in this one. The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Dallas Mavericks, and while Kyrie Irving wasn't eligible to play, Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic certainly were.

Durant and Irving, of course, have been balling out of their minds. Kyrie dropped 50 versus the Hornets, then KD puts up 53 on the Knicks–then you know Kyrie had to one-up his buddy and go quasar style with 60 down in Orlando. It's been crazy in Netsville lately. So Dallas did their homework and they were not going to be the next victim to let Slim Reaper put up 65.

Luka was on fire Wednesday. The Slovenian locals turned out to see their superstar countrymen at Barclays Center too, as one could hear the extra buzz in the crowd. And it was the Nets' own Slovenian, Goran Dragic, who also showed out as well.

Doncic had a game high 37 points, nine boards and nine dimes. Meanwhile, Dragic had 21 points, three rebounds and four assists. The Dragon kept it close, playing his best ball as a Net.

For his part, Kevin Durant finished with 23 points, six boards and 10 assists. The assist total is high, and that's because opposing coach Jason Kidd had KD double teamed whenever he looked up. It was difficult for the four-time scoring champ to find a groove, and the Mavs were not going to make the same mistake the New York Knicks made last weekend.

Durant didn't love all of the attention he got. He did see it as a sign of respect that the Mavs played some defense they rarely play, all for him. But the Nets superstar tried to tempt Kidd into playing more man-to-man.

“Of course, that shows me that the level of respect is high,” Durant said, when asked if he found it a sign of respect that the Mavs sent so many defenders his way all game. “For them to forget about their schemes as a team, forget about what they've been working on, most of the year for them to do that, I asked Jason Kidd, [and] I said ‘well s–t, you paid Dorian Finney-Smith all that money, I mean, is he a defender? Or are you gonna rely on this, put his next four years on him. But, it's a smart strategy, gotta tip the hat to them. Late in the game they did a good job of mixing it up cause sometimes I was driving I had the lane and I'm thinking there's gonna be more help and I rushed the shot, so they did their job.”

Still, he nearly got the best of them anyway. After Luka hit a ridiculous shot, Durant sensed the moment was his for the taking and did this:

https://twitter.com/NetsNationCP/status/1504277210433134593?s=20&t=Fr8KxAlT3YC1UJYZY-G2_g

If that wasn't a “this is my house,” moment, nothing is. But then Spencer Dinwiddie had the last laugh.

It's pretty funny he reminded Kidd that DFS makes over $44M guaranteed through 2026. Durant even knew how many years Finney-Smith has! He's basically saying “what's the point of paying a defender that much if you're going to run a matrix zone on me, come on man?”

But Kidd didn't get prideful and took the challenge. Do defenses who pay a lot for a cornerback allow them to single cover someone like Davante Adams? If you do, it will be a long night. And that's basically what the Mavs deduced and it worked. Don't worry about contracts, or salaries, or egos, just double and triple team number 7.

Dallas got the huge road win on a walk-off triple by the former Nets guard in Dinwiddie. And their defensive scheme paid off. Somewhere you know Nick Nurse and Erik Spoelstra will pull up the game film from this one.