Dallas Mavs Star Kyrie Irving 'In Great Spirits' Following Scary Leg Injury, Will Undergo MRI Saturday

Kyrie Irving had to leave the Dallas Mavericks' game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday due to a scary leg injury he suffered in the second quarter, but Tim Hardaway Jr. gave a positive update on the star point guard after the win.

Although the Dallas Mavericks were able to pull out a 125-112 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night – winning consecutive games for the first time in nearly a month – a dark cloud hovered over the team, as star point guard Kyrie Irving left the game in the second quarter after enduring a scary leg/foot injury.

After driving to the basket, Irving was fouled and fell to the floor. Before the whistle blew, though, Mavs backup center Dwight Powell reached over Irving in an attempt to get an offensive rebound tip-out. Powell's feet were taken out from under him, and he landed directly on Irving's leg with all his weight.

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Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

There was some confusion about Irving's status, as the Blazers' broadcast recklessly mentioned that he might have left the arena in a wheelchair. That was far from the truth, though, as Mavs Sixth Man of the Year candidate Tim Hardaway Jr. said Irving was waiting for his teammates in the locker room immediately following the game.

"He was right there waiting at the door [of the locker room] when we came in," Hardaway said. "He was good. Great spirits. Just happy that he’s OK. When we all got to the locker room and saw on social media how it looked, the pictures, obviously it didn’t look too good. … Hopefully he won’t be out long.”

We should find out more about Irving's status on Saturday, as the Mavs are set to fly to Memphis ahead of Monday's game against the Grizzlies. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Irving is expected to undergo an MRI exam to determine the severity of the injury.

WATCH: Mavs Star Kyrie Irving Leaves Game vs. Blazers with Leg Injury After Scary Play

Irving finished with 11 points on 4-6 shooting in just 13 minutes before having to leave the game against Portland. Dante Exum, who has made his NBA return this season after playing oversees for the two previous years, filled in nicely in Irving's absence, putting up 23 points, six rebounds and seven assists while shooting 9-15 overall and 2-2 from deep in 33 minutes – all while playing some consistently-physical defense.

Stay tuned to DallasBasketball.com for more updates on Irving's injury status throughout the weekend.



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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.