Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving gets brutally honest about his injury

DALLAS— Kyrie Irving is back from injury on Friday night and led it Dallas Mavericks to a big 106-98 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Irving scored 25 points and added five rebounds and five assists in a quality effort despite still dealing with a lower back sprain. After the game, Irving shared his honest assessment concern for his injury.

“I feel much better.” I was completely calm with my game tonight,” Irving said. “This is a new experience for me with this injury … I’m taking my time and just staying patient. Again, I said the other night I’m not too worried, but I know how much it takes to I was sure I was good, I have to keep it up.”

Kyrie Irving leads the Mavericks to a big win against the Thunder

The The Mavericks and Thunder had a competitive game on Friday. Irving played well, though, as Dallas earned a crucial win. The Mavs have struggled with injuries in 2024-25, but are still four games over .500 with a 23-19 record. The Mavericks would obviously like to have a better record, but they are finding ways to stay afloat despite Irving and Luka Doncic missing time.

Doncic is expected to be out at least until the end of January, so it will be up to Kyrie Irving to lead the Mavericks forward. He’s up for the challenge, of course. This is a Mavericks team that still has championship potential despite the fact that they are seventh overall in the Western Conference as of this writing.

Irving will look to lead the Mavericks to another win on Monday against the Charlotte Hornets. Tip-off for the Mavs-Hornets game is set for 12pm EST. Dallas hopes to build on the momentum as they try to climb the Western Conference standings.

Joey Mistretta is the Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. Mistreta graduated from Biola University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism, and has contributed to the NBA Analysis Network and RotoWire.