Kyrie Irving's Injury Status for Massive Matchup vs. OKC Thunder

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The Dallas Mavericks are hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, with OKC entering the game tied for the league's best record at 34-6. Dallas has stumbled lately losing nine of their last 12 games, and a win against the Thunder would be a major upset.
Luka Doncic is still out, but the Mavericks hoped to get Kyrie Irving back for this game, who has missed six of the last seven games with a bulging disc in his back, including Wednesday's controversial loss to the Pelicans. He's led the Doncic-less Mavericks to one win over the Thunder this year already, but he entered the game questionable to play in this one.
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The Mavericks have changed Irving's status to AVAILABLE for this game. He's had an All-Star-caliber season this year when he's been in the lineup, averaging 23.9 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 4.5 RPG while shooting nearly 50/40/90.
Irving was rusty in his return on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets, scoring just 11 points on 4/18 shooting. They'll need P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, and other to step up while Doncic and Dereck Lively II are out.
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Austin Veazey joined NoleGameday as the Lead Basketball Writer in 2019, while contributing as a football writer, and started as editor for MavericksGameday in 2024. Veazey was a Florida State Men’s Basketball Manager from 2016-2019. Follow Austin on Twitter at @EasyVeazeyNG
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