The ongoing NBA season has seen more injuries pop up at an alarming rate than in the last few years. Some teams have lost key players, while others were forced to sideline a bulk of them because of separate ailments. Dallas Mavericks recently faced the worst of it. 6 players are listed on the report for today’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers! It includes Luka Doncic too, who Jason Kidd had discussed, saying, “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow”. Well, tomorrow is here, and the Mavs are now in a worse situation, thanks to Kyrie Irving being sidelined too!

Earlier today, Kyrie Irving became the latest entrant in the IR. Highlighted by Grant Afseth, the report listed the veteran’s ailment as right shoulder soreness, placing him in the ‘questionable’ category. In light of this, the Trail Blazers matchup may end up being the 2nd game Irving misses this season.

Under normal circumstances, people would have sympathized with Kai. However, looking at the long list of players, fans are prone to display disappointment as much as pity. The same was proven true.

Fans baffled at the Mavericks wholesale injury update: “Are we f—–g serious”

“Unfortunate,” was all that one fan wrote to express his disappointment. After all, did anyone need to say anything else?

Irving’s right shoulder is also where he sustained a major impingement four years ago. The same limited his appearances during his first season with the Brooklyn Nets. As a result, he was only present for 20 games! Eventually, the condition did not improve, and he had to undergo surgery. Now, this soreness comes when Klay Thompson, Dereck Lively II, Naji Marshall, Dante Exum, and Brandon Williams are all out, with Williams out only because of his G-League assignment. Not the situation you want to be in when you’re holding on to a 12-8 win record.

One social media user downright expressed his anger, by writing, “Are we f—–g serious, as soon as the Mavs start to get somewhat healthy and start stacking up wins everyone’s injured?” He even finished his comment with a ‘middle finger’ emoji. Yikes!

Prior to the Trail Blazers matchup, the Dallas Mavericks squad had gone on a dominating spree. They had won 7 of their last 8 games, defeating franchises like the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks. This elevated their position to the 5th seed in the West. It placed them in a prime position to overtake the Warriors, who are currently stuck in a losing rut. Now, however, the status of the 3 leading scorers of the Mavs squad is under doubt. 3 others are downright out. It will be hard for the team to maintain the same record.

Amid Kyrie Irving’s shoulder soreness, the need was for at least one lead scorer to be present to take on the Trail Blazers. As a result, one fan wrote, “Luka better play bro.” Fortunately, someone seems to have heard his wish. Despite a questionable status because of a right wrist sprain, the team has confirmed that Luka Doncic will be available for the Mavericks’ 21st game of the season.

Meanwhile, in Kyrie Irving’s absence, coaches expect Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy to see an increase in minutes. While the duo may not be able to cover on the same level as the 32-year-old veteran, the Slovenian will need any help he can receive.

One social media user highlighted that if the Mavericks had reached such a point, then, “We might as well sit everybody until Tuesday. Sheesh.”

As you may well be aware, Kyrie Irving and Co. had won 2-3 recent NBA Cup matchups, losing only to GSW by a close 120-117 score. So, in Group C of the tournament, the Warriors won in that group, while the Trail Blazers were eliminated. Therefore, the competition will now be between the Mavericks (2-1), the Nuggets (1-2) and the Grizzlies (1-2). Tuesday marks the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Memphis Grizzlies. Therefore, Kyrie Irving and his squad need to be in top-notch shape to handle the opposition.

One individual highlighted his disappointment by writing, “This is finna be the story of the season fellas, we’re never going to be fully healthy”. Injuries have haunted the team since the regular season began. It was only two weeks ago when Luka Doncic was on a ‘day-to-day’ status, while Dante Exum was ‘out’. At that time, a few Mavericks fans may have thought that the situation couldn’t get any worse. As it turned out, it can.

Overall, the majority of reactions highlighted a disappointing take on Kyrie Irving and the Dallas squad. With the matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers set to go underway soon, it will stand as a testament to whether the men in blue (sometimes white) can survive without a bulk of their stars. If not, then we should also simmer down expectations for the NBA Cup matchup in the process.