P.J. Washington will receive an icy welcome as his play against the Thunder has OKC fans hating him more than any player in the NBA. Even if it's a skeleton crew going out there for Dallas, there will be plenty of emotions running high in this game.

Irving is listed on the injury report as he continues to deal with a lumbar back sprain. Meanwhile, Dereck Lively II (right ankle sprain), Luka Doncic (left calf strain) and Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) are all out for Friday's game. It is worth noting that Mavs head coach Jason Kidd previously said he expects Irving to play on Friday.

Even without important pieces like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Dereck Lively II, both teams' role players simmered the beef between the ball clubs. The usually well-mannered Thunder were hit with multiple technical fouls. PJ Washington continued to poke the bear.

That decision forced the Thunder to stick close to the Mavericks' role players throughout the first quarter. Once Washington scored the first five points, Irving asserted himself and drained a 3-pointer before finishing at the basket with a finger roll to give the Mavericks an early 10-0 lead.

Kyrie Irving addressed his injury concern following the Mavericks' big victory against the Thunder on Friday night.

The NBA announced the reserves for the 2025 All-Star game during the TNT pregame show for tonight’s matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. The 74th annual All-Star game will take place on Sunday,

The latest misfortune in the Mavericks' injury-riddled season occurred Thursday night when the All-Star reserves were announced by TNT. Kyrie Irving, who had the best chance of qualifying for the Western Conference team, was not selected as part of the 14 reserves.