The hits keep coming like a ton of bricks.
The Dallas Mavericks will take the floor with both hands behind their back and are going to be hampered for the next few weeks. Point guard Kyrie Irving is expected to be sidelined a week or two due to a bulging disc in his back, ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon reported Monday, and the Mavericks were already without their superstar Luka Doncic, who strained his left calf nearly two weeks ago on Christmas Day against the Minnesota Timberwolves and was ruled out for at least a month.
On Sunday, Dallas listed Irving as out for Monday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with a lumbar sprain. Irving missed the Mavericks’ most recent game, a 134-122 loss against the 31-4 Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, due to an illness.
This is, without a doubt, not what coach Jason Kidd wanted to see happen. Since an ugly victory in Phoenix on December 27, the team has struggled to find their footing, losing four games in a row. At 20-15, they are in sixth place in the West Conference, but the seventh-place Los Angeles Clippers have an identical record and just got their superstar Kawhi Leonard back on Saturday and the 10th-place Timberwolves are only 2.5 games back.
With both of their ball-dominant stars out of the lineup, the Mavericks will lean on playmakers Spencer Dinwiddie, who put up 30 points on 8-for-18 shooting in a 110-100 loss (which Irving missed because of a sore shoulder) against the Sacramento Kings a week ago, and Jaden Hardy, who rejoined the rotation after Doncic’s injury. They will also continue to put more on the plate of forward P.J. Washington and wing Quentin Grimes offensively.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 30 games this season, Irving has averaged All-Star caliber numbers with 24.3 points (on 61.1% true shooting), 4.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists. He has shot a career-high 44.1% from 3-point range, and, according to Cleaning The Glass, the Mavericks have slightly outscored opponents (+1.9 net rating) with Irving on the floor and Doncic off in non-garbage-time minutes.
After visiting Memphis, Dallas can look forward to some home cooking and will have a four-game homestand, in which they will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday and the Denver Nuggets on both Sunday and the following Tuesday. After those two games against Denver, the Mavericks will visit the New Orleans Pelicans next Wednesday, then return home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder next Friday.
