Injuries Update

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Mavs want Harris ready for playoffs

Johnson not even sure five weeks are enough to get guard healthy

01:00 AM CST on Monday, March 13, 2006

By EDDIE SEFKO / Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Mavericks took every precaution they could think of with Devin Harris' left thigh injury.

"Yeah," coach Avery Johnson said, "but I guess it wasn't cautious enough."

Harris aggravated the injury Saturday night in Utah, and the problem is serious enough that Johnson's only concern is to have the hard-driving point guard back before the playoffs start.

And he's not sure Harris will be full strength by then. But he will be given every chance to recuperate in the five-plus weeks before the postseason.

"He's our guy who penetrates and gets to the basket," Johnson said. "We definitely don't want any hesitancy there. The goal is to get him as healthy as we can for the playoffs."

Harris continued to walk with a limp Sunday. He will have an MRI exam when the team returns to Dallas today. There is no timetable for his return. But the Mavericks don't want a repeat of the injury.

"We don't know where we went wrong," Johnson said. "We thought the rehab was solid. Casey [Smith, the Mavericks' trainer] does a great job. But we'll just have to take an even slower pace with him next time. We need some more meat on those bones. But that's an off-season project."

Just one of many: The injury list is as crowded as it's been all season.

"It's an infirmary in there right now," Johnson said. "It's just part of the whole process. Some teams have escaped it. Some teams have been bitten by it quite a bit. We're probably somewhere in between."

Adrian Griffin missed Sunday's game with a strained left hamstring. He will be re-evaluated before Tuesday's game against Cleveland.

"I don't know how long it's going to be," Griffin said. "For now, it's just day-to-day."

Keith Van Horn remains out with a left knee injury.

If that weren't enough, Josh Howard left Sunday's game in the first half with a strained left hamstring.

Owner Mark Cuban conferred with the coaching staff after the game and agreed that, pending the results of tests on Harris and Howard today, the Mavericks might try to acquire a free agent to help them through this rough spot.