DALLAS -- Kyrie Irving may have returned to the court Friday to help the Dallas Mavericks defeat top-seeded Oklahoma City, but his ongoing back injury will require rest in some instances.
Irving missing Wednesday's controversial loss to the New Orleans Pelicans was an example of him taking a night off to manage a bulging disc in his back. He had said he would "most likely" play in the road game after the Mavericks suffered a lopsided loss at home to Denver the night before, but Irving was listed as doubtful against the Pelicans hours before the game tipped off.
The Mavericks advised him to consider the circumstances and take the day off, given the Pelicans hold the second-worst record in the West and it was the second night of a back-to-back. He also admitted his back didn't respond as well as he hoped.
"It was a combination of all of those things, man," Irving said after Friday's victory over the Thunder. "I don't want to get too far into detail about it, but it was a collaborative decision. ... It's been a tough January for us, so I was speaking from an emotional place."
Irving played 30 minutes against the Nuggets on Tuesday in his first game in 11 days. His overeager response in the locker room could've been an attempt to rectify his second-worst shooting game of the season (4 of 18).
The Mavericks also entered Wednesday's game in the Big Easy as losers of five of their last seven games. A missed goaltending call on Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III in the game's final seconds resulted in six defeats over the last eight games going into Friday's showdown against the Thunder.
Irving's rest resulted in an improved outing Friday, as he scored 25 points with five rebounds and five assists in a 9-of-19 outing to help the Mavericks end a three-game losing streak.
The Mavericks have identified Irving's injury as a lumbar back sprain, but the veteran guard confirmed he has a bulging disc in his back. In Friday's postgame news conference, he revealed his concern about worsening the injury with excessive play.
"I gotta trust our training staff and just continue to trend in the right direction so I don't have a lapse in a way where I'm out and I have to get surgery. That's the other side of this," Irving said. "If I keep playing and something else happens, then I don't know if surgery is on the other side of this, but it's a possibility and I'm not trying to even worry about that or even think about it or manifest that."
Irving said he didn't feel pain during Friday's game, a good sign for him and the Mavericks as they try to climb back up the Western Conference standings. They're in seventh place, 2 1/2 games behind Denver for fourth.
Dallas also lost Jaden Hardy and Dwight Powell to injuries against Oklahoma City, further depleting their depth with Luka Doncic, Dereck Lively II and Dante Exum sidelined.
Irving and the rest of the Mavericks will have had two days to prepare for Monday's game against the Charlotte Hornets. The team's next back-to-back will immediately follow Wednesday and Thursday in a home-road series against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Thunder.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch for Friday's game because of a sore right wrist, but he could return to the lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Mavericks.
As for the Mavericks, their injury-riddled season continues.
"Praying for health for all of us and I'm grateful for our medical staff and coaching staff for knowing what's going on," Irving said. "We all felt it [Tuesday], emotionally. Just losing that game, the way we lost and coming out and speaking as a leader, I should've just scaled back."
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