Kyrie Irving has been upgraded to questionable for the Mavericks’ game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, according to coach Jason Kidd after practice on Monday. Irving reportedly fully attended Monday’s meeting and Kidd told reporters, “He looked good.”

Irving last played on New Year’s Day against the Houston Rockets. He has missed the last five games because of what the team said was a lumbar sprain in its most recent injury reports. ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon initially reported that Irving had a bulging disc in his back and would likely miss a week or two.

There is no guarantee that Irving will play against Denver on Tuesday, but the injury report being upgraded and Irving being able to return to full practice is a great sign that he will be back on the field by Wednesday’s game against New Orleans at the latest . There’s a back-to-back coming up, so we’ll see if the Mavericks throw Irving right back into the game or ease him into it.

Dallas desperately needs Irving back with Luka Doncic still out with a calf strain. Doncic isn’t scheduled to be reevaluated for a few weeks, so Irving’s return would be huge for a Mavericks lineup that has done an admirable job without its stars but is really lacking the scoring touch that both Doncic and Irving provide . Dallas went 2-3 in the five games Irving missed, and shooting consistency was by far the biggest issue – Dallas shot just 41.2 percent in Sunday’s 112-101 loss to the Nuggets the field.

Irving is having another great season in Dallas, averaging 24.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 52.1 percent on two-pointers and 44.1 percent on three-pointers. That three-point number would be a career high for Irving.