[MavsFanFinley]

Mavs on Dirk injury: 'Sort of pleased'
Nowitzki likely to miss only 7 to 10 days with sprained ankle

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Dirk Nowitzki has a way of looking like his leg is going to fall off when he gets an ankle injury.

But just as with all of his past ankle problems, the latest one won't sideline him for an extended period. Test results Monday indicated nothing more than a sprain, and Nowitzki was walking around, able to put full weight on the left ankle he twisted Sunday at Denver.

The early prognosis is he'll be out a week to 10 days.

"We're sort of pleased," said Don Nelson. "He will miss some games, but it's not as serious as we thought when he first did it."

Nowitzki was not placed on the injured list, meaning he could return anytime. He would have had to sit out the mandatory five games if he had been put on the list.

"I thought it was a serious injury, maybe extended time, like Mike [Finley's ankle]," Nelson said. "But he didn't have much swelling. He recovers amazingly well."

Calvin Booth started in Nowitzki's place.

There was some good news:

Center Erick Dampier was back in the starting lineup against Minnesota on Monday night.

Leaning on Stack:

Jerry Stackhouse will be asked to pick up some of the scoring slack left by Dirk Nowitzki's absence.

"I'd say he's got the green light, to a certain extent," Nelson said. "You have to give a good scorer [some leeway]. They're going to take a bad shot once in a while. Just don't overdo it."

Stackhouse said everybody who is healthy is going to have to upgrade their production.

"It's not just me," Stackhouse said. "We all have to pitch in. We run so much through Dirk that it's going to be a change for all of us."

Wait 'til next time:

With Dirk Nowitzki out, it robbed fans of seeing him match up against Minnesota's Kevin Garnett. Together, Garnett and Nowitzki are two of the best all-around power forwards in the game.

Garnett was asked about how Nowitzki is handling the ball more this season, similar to what Garnett does. The question brought forth one of this season's best quotes so far.

"Dirk can see this black angel pick him up 94 feet," Garnett told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We'll see how well he handles it then."