Barea thinks injury woes are behind him, plans return Friday against Nets

That nagging injury bug has bitten J.J. Barea three times this season, dangling him in and out of the lineup and costing him significant playing time.

But this time the Dallas Mavericks’ combo guard is hoping he’s back for the duration of the season. At least that’s the plan as Barea will be in uniform and playing when the Mavericks (27-36) host the Brooklyn Nets (11-52) Friday night at 8 at American Airlines Center.

Barea missed the past 20 games after leaving the Jan. 20 contest against the Utah Jazz with a strained left calf. Before that, Barea missed seven games with a muscle strain in his left leg suffered Dec. 21 against Portland.

Even before that, Barea missed 17 games with a left calf strain suffered Nov. 16. This time the Mavericks believe they have corrected the problem and don’t foresee any future issues with the 11-year veteran.

“Yeah, I feel really good,” Barea said Thursday. “We were more patient this time – did a lot of extra stuff – so hopefully I’m able to start [Friday] and then finish the year strong.”

Barea will be on a minutes restriction, but coach Rick Carlisle didn’t provide a number.

“We’ll work him in there, but I don’t anticipate anything where he’s going to play one half [Friday] or any of that stuff,” Carlisle said. “I think we plan to play him both halves, and then shut him down and get him ready for the next night if all goes well.”

The Mavericks were 14-29 when Barea was injured for the third time this season, and they’ve gone 13-7 since.

“The team is playing great right now,” Barea said. “We’ve got a good thing going here in practice and in the locker room, so I’m just happy to be excited about basketball and this team, and I’m ready to help the team out.

“We’re moving the ball better, we’re playing a little faster, we’re playing with energy, so yeah, I think it’s good for me [to be back]. So I’ll be ready. I’m going to go out there and give the bench a little bit more energy.”

A surge by rookie free agent point guard Yogi Ferrell gave the Mavericks energy and spearheaded the resurgence and has Carlisle’s team just one-and-a-half games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“He’s been great for us, for himself,” Barea said of Ferrell. “He took advantage of the opportunity and it’s been great for us, so hopefully he’ll keep it going.”

After not offering a second 10-day contact to guard Quinn Cook and forward Ben Bentil, the Mavericks signed guard Manny Harris and forward Jarrod Uthoff to 10-day contracts on Thursday. Since Cook played 15.4 minutes per game for the Mavs, Carlisle insists that the timing of Barea’s return had to do with the roster moves.

“It factored into it, but we’re in a position where we’ve got to look at as many guys as we can,” Carlisle said. “Uthoff and Harris are both very good D-League prospects, both are having terrific years. We wanted to look at them. We’ve been talking about them for a while.

“Cook played pretty significant minutes and was solid, so we appreciate that. We’ve just got to keep moving forward here.”

And move forward with the return of Barea, who knows extensively Carlisle’s system and is averaging 12.2 points and 4.9 assists this season.

“He’s a good player,” Carlisle said. “This is the third time we’ve gone through this and we’ve obviously been cautious and we feel now is the right time, so he’ll play [Friday].”

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Barea thinks injury woes are behind him, plans return Friday against Nets."