Irving fully practiced Monday and is nearing a return to the lineup
Kyrie Irving has been upgraded to questionable for the Mavericks game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, according to coach Jason Kidd after Monday’s practice. Irving reportedly was a full participant during Monday’s session and Kidd told reporters “he looked good.”
Irving last played New Year’s Day against the Houston Rockets. He’s missed the last five games with what the team has called a lumbar back sprain on the recent injury reports. ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon initially reported that Irving had a bulging disc in his back and would likely be out one to two weeks.
There’s no guarantee Irving will play Tuesday against Denver, but being upgraded on the injury report and Irving getting back to full practice is a great sign that he’ll be back on the court no later than Wednesday’s game against New Orleans. It is a back-to-back upcoming, so we’ll see if the Mavericks throw Irving right back into that or ease him in.
Dallas desperately needs Irving back with Luka Doncic still out with a calf strain. Doncic isn’t scheduled to be reevaluated for a few weeks, so Irving’s return would be huge to a Mavericks lineup that has done an admirable job without its stars, but really misses the scoring pop both Doncic and Irving provide. Dallas went 2-3 in the five games Irving missed, and scoring consistency has been by far the biggest issue — Dallas only shot 41.2 percent from the field in Sunday’s 112-101 loss to the Nuggets.
Irving is having another splendid season in Dallas, averaging 24.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, shooting 52.1 percent on twos and 44.1 percent on threes. That three point number would be a career-high for Irving.