Jason Kidd’s honest confession about Kyrie Irving’s return in the Mavericks’ loss to the Nuggets

The Dallas Mavericks received some very welcome news on Tuesday night, as Kyrie Irving is back from a five-game absence due to a back injury. Irving’s return did not result in a win, however, as the Denver Nuggets, fueled by a game-high 45-point outburst from Jamal Murray, defeated the Mavericks 114-99 to hand Dallas its seventh loss in its last 10 points. games.

Irving’s back injury doesn’t appear to limit his workload moving forward; he played a team-high 30 minutes, though like the entire Mavericks team, he wasn’t very effective in his time on the hardwood, contributing just 11 points on an abysmal 4-18 shooting night. Regardless, the head coach Jason Kidd is happy to have one of his star guardians back on the field and attributed his struggle to some rust that he will eventually shake off.

“I thought it was good. It has a great look. Some of the ones that he normally doesn’t make tonight … He’s been out for five games … It was good to have him back,” Kidd said, according to Joey Mistretta, the Mavericks beat reporter for ClutchPoints.

Given the Mavericks’ lineup, it will be crucial for them to get Irving and Luka Doncic back on the court together as soon as possible. With Irving back, Doncic is the only big piece the Mavs are waiting for the Slovenian star is still struggling with a calf injury and is not expected to return until late January or early February.

With the Western Conference as tight as ever, the Mavericks can afford to miss their top two players even longer. They’ve already fallen to sixth in the standings with their 22-18 record, and now it remains unclear whether Irving will be healthy enough to match up for the second night of back-to-back games.

The Mavericks are looking to get back to winning ways tomorrow night against the Pelicans

There is no such thing as being too cautious for a team looking to get over the hump and win a championship. For the Mavericks, it won’t come as a surprise if they end up holding Kyrie Irving out of their Wednesday night contest against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Still, according to Mistretta, Kidd said “hopefully” Irving will be allowed to play tomorrow, even though they will be traveling to New Orleans for that contest. Consider Irving questionable at best for this upcoming matchup.