March 11, 2009

Without Josh, But for How Long?

It's unclear how long Josh will be out, but one thing is for certain: without him, Dallas will have a much harder postseason road ahead.

No. 5 is supposed to be examined again Thursday, and the Mavericks should know more then.

While The Show was on hold for Tuesday’s game, Dallas defeated the Phoenix Suns 122-117 at American Airlines Arena.

STILL OPTMISTIC
Dallas hopes that Josh will be back sooner than later. The injury, however, has flared up twice this season. He missed 11 games in November and December, worst-case scenario: Josh could miss a similar stretch this time.

"We're trying to get to the bottom of Josh's pain as quickly as possible," said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations. "Although there's no timetable at this point, Josh and our medical staff are working feverishly to get him back in uniform. We all know how important every game is down the stretch."

NEXT UP
Tonight, The Mavs will be in Portland to battle the upstart Trailblazers (40-23).

They will obviously be without Josh, who averaged 19 points in two games against Portland.

RELATED STORIES
Nowitzki's 34 leads Mavericks past Suns 122-117 (AP, Mar. 11, 2009)
http://www.nba.com/games/20090310/DALPHX/recap.html
Mavericks whip Suns, 122-117 (Dallas Morning News, Mar. 10, 2009)
http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/mavericks-whip-suns-122-...
Status of Dallas Mavericks' Howard a mystery (Dallas Morning News, Mar. 10, 2009)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/...