Dallas Mavericks star point guard Kyrie Irving is still dealing with an upper-body injury that has forced him to miss six games in a row, including Saturday night’s Mavs date with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. However, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd offered a seemingly optimistic outlook on Irving’s return (h/t Tim MacMahon of ESPN).
Jason Kidd says Kyrie Irving had “two good days of practice” and “hopefully he’ll be available” on the road trip that starts Monday in Philadelphia. This will be the sixth game Irving has missed due to his sprained right thumb.
Mavericks star Kyrie Irving still out with thumb injury
Irving suffered the injury early in the game versus the Boston Celtics at home on Jan. 22, while trying to take the ball away from Jayson Tatum. He initially said that he was not expecting to miss games due to the injury, but it’s now been over a week since he last saw action. During the course of his absence, the Mavericks have gone 2-3 in five games, a stretch that also saw Dallas suffer a brutal 121-87 road loss at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves last Wednesday.
Also out for the Milwaukee game is rookie big man Dereck Lively II because of a facial injury (broken nose).
Irving’s next chance to play will be this coming Monday when the Mavericks visit the Philadelphia 76ers which will kick off a three-game trip away from home.
On the season, Irving is averaging 25.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from behind the arc.
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