For Dallas Mavericks fans, this season has come with a new habit. Before every game, they check the injury report first. On Friday, that habit came in handy again.
Hours before the team’s NBA Cup home game against the Utah Jazz, a familiar name popped up on the list. This time, it had nothing to do with his knee. Mike Curtis, the Mavericks beat writer for The Dallas Morning News, shared the update on X on Friday afternoon.
He’s listed as probable due to an illness. Irving was not on the court during the open portion of this morning’s shootaround,” Curtis wrote. Probable means Irving is still expected to play.
But the way his season has gone, Dallas fans won’t relax until they see him in the starting lineup. It has been an up-and-down stretch. On Oct. 30, he dropped 35 points as Dallas beat the Houston Rockets 116-111 in its Cup opener.
Three days later, the team rested him for a 115-100 loss to the Sacramento Kings to manage his left knee. Without the 34-year-old, the Mavericks struggled to score. He bounced back with 29 points against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
He had a shot to win it late, but his turnaround jumper rimmed out in a 112-111 loss. Through six games, he is averaging over 22 points a night, a strong start after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. Friday’s game also brings a fun matchup between last season’s Rookie of the Year, Cooper Flagg, and Jazz rookie Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
