The Mavericks have reached the point that they have to hope and pray that this is not “one of those years,” with regard to their injury situation.
They have had all of the players expected in the preseason to be in the rotation available for zero games this season. And usually, it’s been more than one of those players sidelined.
Even on Tuesday night, when the Mavericks got the good news that Kyrie Irving was coming back from a bulging disc in his back after missing five games, they got dealt a bust card when Dereck Lively II departed the Denver game with a sprained right ankle less than four minutes into it.