Things went from terrible to worse for the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night when they lost Kyrie Irving to a severe-looking knee injury early on in their contest in opposition to the Sacramento Kings. Irving, on competitive pressure to the basket, seems to bend his knee backwards after planting his left foot, straight away sending him to the ground crumpling in pain. Irving then took and made his two free throws before being helped off the court.

Some bonds simply cannot be broken by means of instances. Irving’s former Mavericks teammate, Luka Doncic, sent a heartfelt message to his former backcourt mate on his Instagram story, wishing him properly in the aftermath of this unlucky development.

Luka Doncic on his IG story 🥹 pic.twitter.com/89LzQv6l2u

— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) March 4, 2025

This injury to Irving became the last thing the Mavericks wanted, particularly with Anthony Davis, the man they received from the Los Angeles Lakers courtesy of the Doncic trade, still on mend because of a groin injury. With the Mavs having a 32-29 record heading into their Monday night matchup against the Kings, they’re going through an uphill climb in their goal to make the playoffs and compete for a championship.

With Irving and Davis out, it’s not pretty clear how the Mavericks will control. The onus to create offense will fall on the shoulders of Jaden Hardy and Spencer Dinwiddie, and that is hardly ever a reliable recipe for fulfillment for a team trying to earn its place in the top-six of the Western Conference.

This became a state of affairs that the Mavericks may want to have managed if they still had Doncic on the roster. Doncic would have no problems taking over the extra burden at the offensive end. But Doncic is now with the Lakers, and all the Mavericks can do is lick their wounds.

Mavericks’ doomsday scenario comes to life

When the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic away, they believed that the duo of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis could be enough to lead them to a championship. But Irving and Davis each have histories of being at risk of injuries, and both have now fallen prey to the injury bug.

The Mavericks’ chances of making it to the playoffs, let alone winning a championship, are not searching too good with this turn of events. Meanwhile, the Lakers are rolling; they’re presently the two-seed within the Western Conference, with Luka Doncic thriving along LeBron James—that’s precisely the worst-case state of affairs Mavs lovers could have predicted within the aftermath of the blockbuster trade that greatly surprised the world.