Kyrie Irving in 'precautionary' walking boot after ankle/foot injury, hopes to play Wednesday
The Dallas Mavericks have missed Luka Doncic for five straight games, and now Kyrie Irving's health may be in question, too.
The All-Star point guard wore a walking boot on his right foot after Monday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. He reportedly said the boot was "just precautionary" and that he hopes to play Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors, but there is concern he aggravated the foot injury that caused him to miss three games earlier this month.
Kyrie Irving is wearing a walking boot on his right foot. “It’s just precautionary,” he said. He hopes to play Wednesday vs. Warriors. He said the concern is the foot injury he re-aggravated, not the ankle he twisted.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 21, 2023
The Mavericks haven't had Irving and Doncic play in the same game since March 8.
Irving returned from the foot injury on Friday and looked good as ever, scoring 38 points in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, but was apparently still playing through pain, per the Mavericks' site:
“I just need to take care of it. I said this a few days ago, it’s a little bit worse than I thought, but I’m just going to manage it.
“I’m not going to sit up here and make excuses. On to the next game.”
Not exactly what you want to hear when you're the 36-36 Mavericks and in the middle of the highly compressed Western Conference standings. Currently sitting in seventh place, Dallas is a half-game behind the Golden State Warriors for the final playoff spot, but also one game ahead of the 11th-place Utah Jazz.
Doncic remains out with a left thigh injury. He was questionable to play Monday before being eventually ruled out and practiced in full last week, but the team can only hope he and Irving are ready for that critical game against the Warriors on Wednesday.