Dallas Mavericks (5-3) at Minnesota Timberwolves (1-8)
The Dallas Mavericks' 92-83 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night may prove to be more costly than originally expected.
Though the Mavs suffered just their third loss of the season, the major causality may have come when swingman Josh Howard left the game after playing only a handful of minutes in the second half before re-aggravating the left ankle the former All-Star had surgically repaired this offseason.
(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Mavericks must roll on while Howard's out with an ankle injury
Howard had only returned to the court just two games before, when he debuted with 16 pints in 25 minutes in a 129-101 win over Toronto. Now, after playing on a second night of a back-to-back, Howard is once again sidelined though this time there is no scheduled timetable for his return.
"I'm going to go with the unexpected speed bump right now," Howard said after leaving the San Antonio game early with the injury. "I've just got to keep working towards getting healthier."
"He's (Howard) had some soreness in practices, as he's in the stages of a long process of recovery and reconditioning of his ankle," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said initially when Howard exited the game in the loss to the Spurs. "So at times this soreness will occur."
Now, Howard is on the mend and it is unsure when he will return. But the Mavs have played, and won, without Howard in the lineup this season and they must do so again.
If Dallas is looking for a team to release the stress of the Howard loss on, the Minnesota TImberwolves are the perfect test subject. Already struggling out of the gates to a 1-8 start, the T-wolves will be without leading-scorer Al Jefferson when Dallas comes to town. Jefferson will be gone from the team to tend to a family illness.
The Wolves are also without second-year pro Kevin Love, who could return from a broken left hand as early as next week. With Jefferson and Love out, the onus falls on rookie Jonny Flynn and sixth man Ramon Sessions to handle the scoring load. Former Mav Ryan Hollins will also have to step in and play big minutes at the center position.
With the Wolves bruised and battered, Dallas hopes to get off to a quicker start than they have in their previous games. The Mavs have stumbled early in games, needing late-game heroics from Dirk Nowitzki and second half scoring binges to claim their five victories. That can not be the recipe to cooking up a win against the the Wolves, Carlisle said.
"It's (balanced scoring in the first half) an area where we have to continue to work to get better and that's by having the right balance offensively and make sure there is plenty of help out there for him (Nowitzki) because we have plenty of good players."
The Mavericks play the second of a four-game road trip in Minnesota against the Timberwolves on Friday night, with the game airing on FSN Southwest at 7:00 p.m. CT.
Dallas returns to the American Airlines Center on Oct. 18, when the Mavs get a chance at revenge themselves when they host the Spurs. The game will air locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA 21 HD and nationally on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
The Mavericks and the NBA have introduced the official NBA All-Star game ballot, featuring Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. For more on how to vote for your favorite Mavs for the All-Star game, to be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, visit Mavs.com.
Follow Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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