Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has been ruled out for Friday's game against the Atlanta Hawks, per the NBA injury report. Irving, who is dealing with a right thumb sprain, was originally listed as questionable for Friday's contest in Atlanta. In addition to Irving, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell are also out with injuries.
Irving suffered the thumb sprain on Monday against the Boston Celtics. He was also listed as questionable Wednesday before getting ruled out against the Phoenix Suns.
Irving has performed well when healthy in 2023-24. He's unfortunately appeared in only 27 games due to injury concerns, however. Through those 27 games, Irving is averaging 25.2 points per outing on 47.2 percent field goal and 41.1 percent three-point shooting to go along with 5.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per contest.
Kyrie Irving's impressive season has been impacted by injuries
The entire Mavericks team has dealt with injury trouble. The fact that Dallas has played a mostly competitive brand of basketball during the 2023-24 campaign is quite impressive given how many players have missed time due to injuries.
Irving has dealt with unexpected injuries as well. His ailments have often stemmed from freak accidents on the court. Irving addressed the unexpected injury concerns after Monday's game.
“First play of the game, I went to swipe down at JT (Jayson Tatum),” Irving said, via Landon Thomas of Mavs Fans For Life. “Just like the other game, when I'm getting tackled out there by Bron (LeBron James), like unexpected injuries in the first few minutes of the game. My aggression is a little bit lower than what I want it to. When things happen like that, personally you got to get out of your own way. I got to do a better job of inserting myself in situations on the court and getting better shots.”
There is no question that Dallas is a better team when Irving is on the floor. He's a veteran leader who is capable of recording jaw-dropping numbers on any given night. The Hawks have endured their share of struggles in 2023-24, but the Mavericks cannot take them for granted, especially with Kyrie Irving set to miss the game.
Mavericks' recent struggles
Dallas still holds a respectable 24-20 record this season despite losing three consecutive games. Following their impressive 125-120 win on January 15 against the New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas has dropped three straight games to the Los Angeles Lakers, Celtics, and Suns.
Dallas has dealt with frustration over their past few games. Questionable officiating at times hasn't helped with that frustration. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd previously addressed the issue following Monday's loss to Boston.
“You have to move on to the next play and we've talked about that over and over,” Kidd said. “Sometimes the maturity, it takes time. We've been inconsistent in that department where we can get caught up with the officials rather than just staying focused on the game. No one is going to be perfect from player to official to coach, so you've got to just continue to do your job. I thought we got frustrated there and they took advantage of that.”
Kyrie Irving's leadership can help the Mavs to stay poised. Irving can still help from the sidelines Friday, but Dallas will need Luka Doncic to step up and set the tone. Luka has dealt with frustrations of his own in recent games, and it will be interesting to see if he can lead the Mavericks to a bounce-back performance against Atlanta.
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