The Dallas Mavericks have gotten off to a surprisingly strong start to the 2026-27 NBA season, currently sitting at 4-2 ahead of Monday's clash against the winless Sacramento Kings. While Cooper Flagg has gotten most of the headlines, veteran point guard Kyrie Irving has also rounded back into form after making his return from an ACL injury that kept him out for all of last season.

Unfortunately, however, Irving got a tough injury update ahead of Monday's game against the Kings.

“The Mavericks have downgraded Kyrie Irving (left knee injury management) from questionable to doubtful for tonight's home game against Sacramento,” reported NBA insider Marc Stein on X, formerly Twitter.

The good news for Dallas is that the Kings have not won a game yet this season, and haven't come particularly close to doing so, and they should theoretically be able to win even if Irving is unable to go.

The fact that this injury designation is seemingly stemming from the ACL recovery process and not something new is also a good sign.

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In any case, if Irving does miss this contest, that will leave even more of the heavy lifting to Flagg, who has certainly been up to the challenge thus far this year. Flagg and Irving put together huge performances down the stretch of the Mavericks' recent home win over the Houston Rockets, and Flagg is looking like an All-Star candidate at this point of the season.

In any case, the Mavericks and Kings are slated to tip off at 8:00 pm ET from Dallas.