Mavericks' Kyrie Irving, PJ Washington drop honest admissions on Dereck Lively II injury
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DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks were defeated 115-114 by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Dallas now holds a 21-23 record overall.
Injuries continue to play a big role in the Mavs’ struggles. Luka Doncic remains out with a calf injury, and it was revealed on Wednesday that Dereck Lively II is expected to miss two-to-three weeks with an ankle injury.
Kyrie Irving reacts to Dereck Lively II's injury: "That's our big fella, man… We're gonna miss him. Just want him to get healthy, take his time, do what's best for him."#MFFLpic.twitter.com/byzkk06EBb
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) January 23, 2025
“That's our big fella, man,” Irving told reporters after the game. “Man in the middle, one of our bigs, we're gonna miss him. Just want him to get healthy, take his time, do what's best for him.”
“Obviously it’s devastating, losing a player like that for a couple of months,” Washington said of Lively’s injury. “Right now, it’s next man up mentality and everybody has to come to play each and every night. With that being said, obviously it’s sad news, but we just gotta keep going.”
Washington knows that he needs to be especially aggressive given the Mavericks’ current injury situation.
“Definitely,” Washington said of knowing he needs to be extra aggressive on offense at the moment. “Gotta find a way to score and keep us in it. Just be aggressive and find ways to get baskets.”
The Mavs need players to step up. Kyrie Irving scored 36 and PJ Washington added 30 on Wednesday, but the rest of the offense struggled to get much of anything going, Daniel Gafford scored 14 points and Maxi Kleber added 10, but the Mavericks still need a better all-around offensive attack.
That is something that is difficult to find when Doncic, Lively and Klay Thompson are among the players who are listed as out.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd also shared his thoughts on PJ Washington and Kyrie Irving’s play on Wednesday.
“I think he’s been aggressive since the season started,” Kidd said of Washington. “He was aggressive tonight. I thought him and Kai set the tone for us, we needed one of those guys to go big and they both went big tonight… We just need someone else to chip in. We have great looks. I thought Kai made some great passes when he got to the rim, so those shots will hopefully go down tomorrow night.”
The Mavericks play the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Thursday night in the second of a back-to-back.
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