With newly acquired star forward Anthony Davis already sidelined with a left abductor strain in his debut game, it was up to Kyrie Irving to hold down the fort until his fellow All-Star could work his way back. To that end, Irving did an admirable job, leading the Mavericks to a 5-3 record in AD’s absence.
But it may be up to others to lead the Mavericks. In the first quarter, Irving bumped knees with Jonas Valančiūnas and Irving’s knee buckled on his next step. However, Irving had to be helped up off the floor and hobbled to shoot his two free throws before heading straight to the locker room.
Following the game Mavs head coach Jason Kidd has this to say:
“Just unlucky. I hope that he’s healthy and it’s not serious,” Kidd said. “The injuries that we’ve had this season, guys are trying to hold it together to get other bodies back. And it just seems every time we’re getting close to getting somebody back, someone goes down. We’re running out of bodies here, but guys keep fighting.”
To add further insult to this literal injury, the Mavericks lost 122-98, dropping the Mavericks to 10th in the Western Conference.
