Kyrie Irving scores 23 points to lead Mavericks past Jazz 110-102

DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and Klay Thompson added 18 to lift the Dallas Mavericks over the Utah Jazz 110-102 on Monday night.

Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks was wheeled off on a stretcher with a broken leg midway through the third quarter after he fell to the floor without any contact near the baseline beneath Utah’s basket. The team said he had a fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle.

Luke Doncic had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on an off shooting night.

Irving was scoreless until hitting two 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds of the first quarter for the defending Western Conference champions, who have won two of their first three games.

Collin Sexton scored 23 points and Lauri Markkanen and Keonte George added 17 each to lead the Jazz, who have lost their first three games for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Doncic was 5 of 22 from the floor and hit his only 3-pointer in nine tries with 2:34 remaining.

Jazz: They went into play 29th in the NBA in field-goal shooting at 39% and shot 37% and 28.6% from distance.

Mavericks: Irving was the only member of their big-three shooting stars to find his shot from long range. Irving was 3 of 6 and Thompson was 4 of 11.

Dallas led 101-95 with 2:48 to play when Washington blocked Kessler at the rim. Doncic hit the 3-pointer seconds later to put Dallas ahead by nine.

Doncic nearly went without a 3-pointer for the second time in five games dating to last season. He was 0 for 8 behind the arc in the Mavericks’ 122-84 Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics in last year’s NBA Finals.

Both teams will complete back-to-backs on Tuesday night. The Jazz will host the Sacramento Kings while the Mavericks will visit the Minnesota Timberwolves.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) goes up for a dunk in the second half as Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) watches during an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) takes a floating jump shot over Utah Jazz forward John Collins, left, and guard Patty Mills (8) during an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) takes a jump shot over Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) dunks as Dallas Mavericks guards Luka Doncic, left, and Kyrie Irving (11) watch in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington, center right, shoots a floating jump shot over Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, center left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) takes a jump shot over Dallas Mavericks forward Naji Marshall, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) goes up for a basket as he is defended by Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) looks to pass the ball as he is defended by Dallas Mavericks forward Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II, center right, and forward Naji Marshall (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) takes a jump shot over Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) in the first half during an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) drives against Dallas Mavericks forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper, left, in the first half during an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II, center front, warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)