Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, who has been sidelined since Jan. 1 with a back injury, returned to action in Tuesday’s home game against the Denver Nuggets. Irving finished with 11 points (on 4-for-18 shooting), four rebounds, two assists and four steals in Dallas’ 118-99 loss.

The Dallas Mavericks travel to New Orleans and face the Pelicans on Wednesday evening. Dallas is playing on the second night of a back-to-back after a 118-99 lo

Irving was absent for the most recent Mavericks game, also against the Nuggets, which the Denver side won 112-101. In that tie, he was hugely missed, with the output for his side clearly suffering from his absence: Dallas are 2-3 across their last five games in the NBA without Irving and 3-6 overall without him.

The Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans will play on Wednesday night, but will Kyrie Irving be available for the game?

Wednesday’s controversial loss to the New Orleans Pelicans was an example of Irving’s latest injury management because of a bulging disc in his back. Irving said Tuesday that he would “most likely” play in a game that was on the road after the Mavericks suffered a lopsided loss at home to Denver the night before.

The Dallas Mavericks are steadily heading towards getting healthy with each day, and Kyrie Irving's return could tip things off.

That decision forced the Thunder to stick close to the Mavericks' role players throughout the first quarter. Once Washington scored the first five points, Irving asserted himself and drained a 3-pointer before finishing at the basket with a finger roll to give the Mavericks an early 10-0 lead.

Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving has been ruled out of Wednesday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, who are similarly resting power forward Zion Williamson.

After a 5-game absence, Dallas' Kyrie Irving returned and scored 11 points against Denver, but later admitted he struggles with back injury.

Jamal Murray scored 32 of his season-high 45 points in the first half and led the Denver Nuggets to a 118-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Kyrie Irving scored 25 points as the Dallas Mavericks brought the high-flying Oklahoma City Thunder down to earth with a 106-98 victory over the Western Conference leaders on Friday.