Mavs' Nowitzki out at least 2 weeks after nasty fall

[LakeShow]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3308109

Mavs' Nowitzki falls, limps off court with leg, ankle injury

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: March 23, 2008, 4:18 PM ET


DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks expect to be without star forward Dirk Nowitzki for at least two weeks after Nowitzki was injured in the third quarter of Sunday's 88-81 loss to San Antonio.

A stoned-faced Mark Cuban walked out of American Airlines Center with two fingers aloft to reflect the initial two-week projection.

But the Mavericks owner stressed that the time frame is only preliminary and won't be confirmed until a more complete medical examination is made Monday.

Nowitzki crumpled to the floor and clutched his left leg in agony after attempting to block a shot by San Antonio's Ime Udoka. Nowitzki's leg appeared to fold awkwardly after Udoka's right leg came down on Nowitzki's as they landed.

Nowitzki started reaching for his ankle, then grabbed near his calf, slapping the floor in agony. He put a hand on his head, then didn't move while the team's orthopedist and athletic trainer worked on his lower leg. The arena was silent until Nowitzki sat up.

Nowitzki had 11 points and seven rebounds at the time, with San Antonio leading 56-54 and 3:18 left in the period.

In a statement released by the team, Nowitzki said: "I fell awkwardly and my left leg got caught underneath of me. I am going to get re-evaluated in the morning and I hope to have more information then."

The Mavericks' hope is that Nowitzki merely sustained damage to his left ankle -- an injury he historically recovers from as quickly as anyone in the league -- and avoided a knee injury.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[The Franchise]

Damn. As much as I hate the Mavs I understand all to well what it means to lose an important part of your team. Plus Dirk seems to be a very likable guy (it should have been Terry). I hope it's not that serious. It will be a real fight for Dallas to make the playoffs now.

[JMarkJohns]

Wow... maybe the Mavs will miss the playoffs? 0-8 vs. winning teams and now without their best player for likely 7-10 games. Tough break.

[O-Factor]

Damn. As much as I hate the Mavs I understand all to well what it means to lose an important part of your team. Plus Dirk seems to be a very likable guy (it should have been Terry). I hope it's not that serious. It will be a real fight for Dallas to make the playoffs now.

:lmao

Agreed. I feel bad for Dirk, but the Mavs seem fucked now.

[Kori Banned Me]

i'm glad he got injured

[Whisky Dog]

I don't want to see anyone get injured, but if I could switch Dirk for Terry or Stackhouse I'd do it in a second.

[DaDakota]

Mavs fans, this sucks, get well soon Dirk.

DD

[Shank]

i'm glad he got injured

I'm glad your mother was raped by a motorcycle gang and set on fire to die in a dumpster.

[manufor3]

man dirk's a good guy. should've been terry.

[Findog]

^ You stay classy, Spur fan.

[hater]

Dirk seems funny and cool. Shit I'd go out for a drink w/him.

Stackhouse? I hope the scoreboard falls on his head

[1Parker1]

Did anyone ever see the Punk'd episode with Dirk?

They go to some restaurant in Dallas (Finley is with him and the Mavs atheltic trainer) and some little kid comes up to him and asks him to autograph his shirt and his Lakers hat or something. Dirk obliingly signs, Then the kid comes back 5 minutes later with a HUGE trash bag of crap to sign (so he could sell it on ebay). Like baseball bats, t-shirts, etc. And Dirk signs like 10 of those things until he finally says enough. But then the kid's mom is like oh come on, he's just a kid and he adores you. And Dirk's like I already signed a bunch of stuff for him and I just want to eat. And the kid keeps bugging him and Dirk, nice guy that he is gives up and continues signing shit.

:lmao

[Shank]

The best is when Dirk signed the kid's Lebron jersey.

[1Parker1]

The best is when Dirk signed the kid's Lebron jersey.


:lmao Oh yea, I thought it was a Lakers jersey for some reason. Finley looked at him and said "Dude, that's a Lebron jersey, you can't sign that." But Dirk felt so bad he actually did!!

[himat]

:lol The video used to be on youtube, but it's not anymore because of some copyright claim.

[Indazone]

getting ready to pull the cord.

5...4...3...2...1...click

damn it's dark in here without the lights on.

[Findog]

getting ready to pull the cord.

5...4...3...2...1...click

damn it's dark in here without the lights on.

We get a pick in the mid-teens, you get another first-round exit.

lol, Houston Rockets.

[ChumpDumper]

huh?

If you are going to engage in classless celebration of an injury, at least have it make sense.

[Findog]

huh?

what?

[Indazone]

Here's the vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ4jNM4z6vg

[Findog]

With apologies to good guys like Matchman and The Franchise, I don't get why retarded Rocket fan is so gleeful about our franchise player going down. Congratulations, your season will last two weeks longer than ours will. Cherish another first-round exit.

[Indazone]

Dirk is a good player, not celbrating his injury. Just saying that the Mav's playoff chances just got a lot slimmer.

[Matchman]

getting ready to pull the cord.

5...4...3...2...1...click

damn it's dark in here without the lights on.

i dont understand this post but if its a celebration of injuries i think u should stop.
not only is it classless, but we got our shares of injuries every fucking year and i dont want bad kharma for our rockets.

[Matchman]

Cherish another first-round exit.
:lol
im gonna bump this post up when the rockets blast whoever they were facing in the first round

[ChumpDumper]

Dirk is a good player, not celbrating his injury. Just saying that the Mav's playoff chances just got a lot slimmer.You're gloating.

You suck.

[Indazone]

and this is worse than this how?

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2345187#post2345187

[Findog]

:lol
im gonna bump this post up when the rockets blast whoever they were facing in the first round

If you guys finish high enough, I think you'll beat Golden State or Denver. Other than that, don't know about advancing.

[ChumpDumper]

and this is worse than this how?

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2345187#post2345187What does that have to do with your sucking?

You suck.

[The Nba Is Rigged]

It's a shame what happened to Dirk, He was finally playing some good defense and this shit happens. I'm frustrated at this point.

[Findog]

It's a shame what happened to Dirk, He was finally playing some good defense and this shit happens. I'm frustrated at this point.

It's been a frustrating 10 months, and we don't have enough athletes to run with Kidd. We have our work cut out for us in the offseason.

[ducks]

ming is out
bryum may be effectivate in postseason
dirk is gone
other teams better hope they stay healthy
one advatage spur players already got hurt

[mavs>spurs2]

uNdErStanD u i d0 n0t cuz language of duckss

[DaDakota]

It's been a frustrating 10 months, and we don't have enough athletes to run with Kidd. We have our work cut out for us in the offseason.

It is all on Cuban he took a very athletic and smart team from 2 years ago and got older, less athletic, and slower....

Unreal...sometimes it is better to just let the players grow and tweak rather than overhaul.

DD

[SouthernFried]

I've always liked Dirk. I've just felt he was on the wrong team...or, at least surrounded by the wrong players, and now coach.

I don't like the current makeup of the Dallas team, but I've always liked Dirk. Wouldn't wish this on him for anything.

Now Stackhouse and Terry is another matter...

[Purple & Gold]

That looked nasty. Luckily it was only his ankle and could have been much worse than 2 weeks. Mavs teammates need to step up and keep them in the playoff hunt.

[DaDakota]

That looked nasty. Luckily it was only his ankle and could have been much worse than 2 weeks. Mavs teammates need to step up and keep them in the playoff hunt.

Kind of like the Rockets did without Yao.....

DD

[boutons_]

Can the Mavs hold on to a playoff spot with Dirk out?

[ludda]

I've always liked Dirk. I've just felt he was on the wrong team...or, at least surrounded by the wrong players, and now coach.

I don't like the current makeup of the Dallas team, but I've always liked Dirk. Wouldn't wish this on him for anything.

Now Stackhouse and Terry is another matter...

Dirk is a unique offensive player, who I think, on a different team or system where he's not the team's dominant post player, perimeter player, go-to guy, crunchtime guy etc etc could do better and wouldn't have his "choker" label. The mavs could really use an allstar-type second option, and no Josh Howard doesn't qualify.

Anyways the ESPN reports don't make it sound too bad, but if it's at least two weeks, Mavs have a good chance of not making the playoffs.

[angel_luv]

I hope Dirk recovers quickly.
I said a prayer for him.

[Purple & Gold]

Kind of like the Rockets did without Yao.....

DD

Pretty much

[DazedAndConfused]

What the Mavs are in desperate need of is someone who can legitimately create shots on his own and get to the rim consistently. A Corey Maggete type player would be ideal IMHO. Kidd needs more athletic wings running along with him to truly be effective out there.

[SenorSpur]

Dirk is a really, good guy and I'm sorry to see him get hurt too.

Now Terry or Stack, well......give me a minute to think about that one.

[mavs>spurs2]

I've actually been so pissed about where are season is going that I honestly dont give a shit about the injury. At least now I surely wont get my hopes up only to be let down.

[MrChug]

Stack and JET can suck on one of my nuts each (although I know that that JET has a particular preference for Mike Finley's balls).

But Dirk is a good guy and I hope he recovers very quickly.

[Xylus]

Man, this sucks. No player deserves an injury, especially a class player like Dirk Nowitzki. Hoping for a speedy recovery, because I'm really looking forward to a Suns-Mavs matchup in the playoffs.

[BlackSwordsMan]

shame dirk seems cool

[ancestron]

Heal fast Dirk. I hate to see anyone get hurt. Even if it is the franchise player of an arch-rival.

[GuerillaBlack]

Can the Mavs hold on to a playoff spot with Dirk out?
No, I doubt it. If you saw the game when Dirk was suspended, well that is what will happen.

[Indazone]

just hire JVG and next year you'll have a back to the basket player in Dirk. :D

[TampaDude]

I've always liked Dirk. I've just felt he was on the wrong team...or, at least surrounded by the wrong players, and now coach.

I don't like the current makeup of the Dallas team, but I've always liked Dirk. Wouldn't wish this on him for anything.

Now Stackhouse and Terry is another matter...

WERD...Dirk is the only player on the Mavs I actually like and respect...too bad it wasn't Crackhouse going out for a couple of weeks...

[Roxsfan]

Too bad for the dirk and mavs, especially in late March.

the diff with the rox-ming and mavs-dirk, is that the rox were beating 500 ball clubs b4 ming was hurt. Dallas was not beating 500 clubs with dirk as of late. It will be tough for them to stay in the hunt.
Tim Duncan should be very careful, the injury-fairy is coming after Texas' big men!!

hopefully dirk did not have any soft-tissue injuries in the knee. All ankle=quick heal for dirk, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Maybe now terry and j.howard will step it up.

good luck mavs fans


btw, I wonder if the analysts will stress when the opposing team has players out and completely forget the mavs are without dirk......you know the yao-out treatment. Yes, the mavs get dirk back this season, but hopefully there is something left for him to go back to.(postseason wise)

[duncan228]

Tim Duncan should be very careful, the injury-fairy is coming after Texas' big men!!

Please don't mention Duncan and injury in the same sentence.

Thanks. :)

[Roxsfan]

Please don't mention Duncan and injury in the same sentence.

Thanks. :)


no prob, but I just thought, of all big men, why texas? Garnett is out there, heck Mr. Injury-Shaq too.........

[Hemotivo]

http://www.spurschick.com/dirkvoodoo.jpg
:wtf

[mavsfan1000]

:depressed

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Can they have any sort of estimate without MRI results? Or is this just a case of Cuban shooting his mouth off?

[Findog]

Can they have any sort of estimate without MRI results? Or is this just a case of Cuban shooting his mouth off?

They always say the same thing without an MRI - high ankle sprain. Even if that's the case, we won't stay ahead of Denver without him for two weeks. Best to keep our pick we sent to Jersey.

At this point, I just hope it's nothing serious like what happened to Chris Webber, nothing long term.

[Bruno]

If the MRI confirm that it's only a ankle sprain, I wouldn't be surprised to see Dirk coming way before these two weeks. He has an ability to come back quickly from ankle sprains.
If Dirk comes back in two weeks or less, I think Mavs will make the playoffs.

[DaDakota]

It looked bad, but not that bad....his foot was not bent too far to one side etc.....and Dirk has a history of coming back fairly quickly....

Hopefully he will not be out that long......

As a Rockets fan I know how hard it is to lose your best player......no team deserves that.

DD

[Shank]

Saw on Channel 5 last night that he was walking on it some after the game. The guy is a freak. His blood contains the cure for cancer, but doctors won't farm it.

I hope they can weather this before he comes back. I'd hope for him to return for the April 2nd game v. GS at home. Some tougher matchups before then, but I think they still show up well.

But this will certainly give Avery a chance to see what he has on his bench and who can contribute. This time without Dirk will be a time for guys to audition for next season or to see who they can lean on, should they make the playoffs.

[DaDakota]

I don't think it looked all that bad.....certainly painful but it didn't really twist or turn sideways that much.

I think he comes back sooner than people think....at least I hope he does for the sake of the Mavs fans.

No one wants a Yao Ming type of injury on a star player.

DD

[Indazone]

too bad cause I really wanted the Rockets to meet the Mavs at full strength and take them to school even though we don't have Yao.