Shortly after being ruled out indefinitely with a lingering Achilles problem, Dirk Nowitzki told reporters he is “all in” for the rest of the Mavericks’ season, relays Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Soreness in his right Achilles tendon has limited Nowitzki to five games this season. The problem began after he played 38 minutes on opening night. The veteran forward, who re-signed this summer for $50MM over two years, said he remains committed to this season despite the pain and Dallas’ 4-15 start. “This is obviously not a career-ending injury that I’ve got,” he said. “It’s something that just keeps lingering unfortunately. I can hopefully get over it. There’s still a lot of season left. December just started. We know that there’s a lot of games coming, so hopefully sometime soon I’ll be out there and then stay out there. I don’t want to jump in and out of the lineup with soreness or fight this whole year. I’d love to be healthy and stay out there once I go.”
There’s more from Dallas:
- Center Andrew Bogut says the Mavericks have to turn things around quickly to have any hope for the playoffs, tweets Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star Telegram. “We probably honestly genuinely got about a month left to try and salvage this season,” Bogut said before Saturday’s win over the Bulls. The Mavericks’ performance over the next few weeks may determine if Bogut remains with the team all season. He will be a free agent next summer and could be traded before the February 23rd deadline if Dallas isn’t in contention.
- Coach Rick Carlisle remains a supporter of Rajon Rondo even though they had a rocky relationship during the point guard’s time in Dallas, according to Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Carlisle gave a glowing report about Rondo to the Bulls’ coaching staff when the team was considering making an offer to him in free agency. “I’ve recommended Rondo to a couple teams who have called me about him the last couple years,” Carlisle said. “As a competitor, you’re not going to find a guy better or more resourceful. It didn’t work out here for various reasons. It just was not a good fit. We did everything we could to make it work.”
- Harrison Barnes is still adjusting to being a primary scorer after starting his career as a complementary piece in Golden State, writes Pat James of The Charlotte Observer. The Mavericks gave Barnes a four-year, $94MM contract this summer and promised him a larger role in the offense. “You just have to go and be aggressive,” he said. “That’s just the mentality coach has been trying to get me to be in this entire season. When he [Carlisle] draws up that play, it can’t be that I’m indecisive or thinking, ‘What play should I do?’ It’s just got be, ‘Make a read, and make or miss you live with the result.’ ”