Calf injury may force Mavericks’ Ellis to miss his first game

With the playoffs looming and so much at stake, the Dallas Mavericks appear prepared to do something for the first time since they acquired shooting guard Monta Ellis on July 23, 2013.

They’re on the verge of playing their first game without him.

With 6:43 remaining in the third quarter of Friday’s 94-76 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Ellis left the game for good after he apparently got hit in his right leg.

Mavs head athletic trainer Casey Smith diagnosed it as a right calf injury, an injury that may prevent Ellis from playing when the Mavs (45-28) face the Indiana Pacers (31-41) at 6 p.m. Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

“He’s on crutches, which is never good,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Ellis. “So he appears to be very doubtful. We don’t think it’s serious. But we are concerned.”

Ellis has defied the odds before and played through pain and injuries while befuddling both Carlisle and the Mavs’ medical staff. But this time the situation appears more dire.

With just nine games left before the playoffs start on April 18, it would take a collapse for the Mavs to miss the postseason. But they know if they had their druthers, they’d rather drop a few more games as long as it guarantees they’ll have Ellis fit and ready once the postseason rolls around.

“We’re not going to do anything foolish in terms of rushing him back until he’s absolutely ready,” Carlisle said. “I trust Casey Smith and I trust Monta, too, to be reasonable about this.

“He knows how important he is to us. We can’t take a foolish risk at this point.”

Carlisle noted that further examination of Ellis’ status may not come until the Mavs return home from this short two-game road trip, which ends after Sunday’s game. No MRI has been taken on Ellis’ injured leg.

“We haven’t done any tests,” Carlisle said. “When we get back Monday we’ll evaluate whether to do that or not.”

Ellis leads the Mavs with 19.1 points per game and is also their No. 1 go-to player. If he’s unable to play, it creates a litany of problems for the Mavs.

A stickler for wanting to play in every game, Ellis has played in 237 consecutive contests, including all 155 games since he joined the Mavs before last season.

While that speaks to his iron-man status, both he and the Mavs have to determine if the streak is worth keeping alive.

Carlisle knows precisely what designing a game plan without Ellis means, even though he’s never encountered that situation.

“It certainly creates a challenge we haven’t faced,” Carlisle said. “You’re talking about a guy that’s played every game since he’s been in a Mavericks uniform, which is beyond commendable, so it’s going to be next man up.

“We’re going to have to make up for his loss collectively. You don’t lose your best offensive player and have one guy that can step up and just make the difference.”

Ellis usually has the ball in his hands creating in late-game situations. But the Mavs have often discussed putting the ball more in Chandler Parsons’ hands as a point forward.

Now, those discussions can come to fruition.

“Obviously Ellis is a big part of our offense, but any time someone goes down it gives another guy a chance to step up and have a bigger opportunity,” Parsons said. “But everyone’s got to be ready to play their part and be aggressive and pick up his slack.”

NBA mum on Cuban

The NBA made no decision Saturday whether to fine owner Mark Cuban for a disparaging tweet about the league officials and scathing comments he made to the media after Friday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Cuban said he didn’t care if the league fined him.

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 8:35 PM with the headline "Calf injury may force Mavericks’ Ellis to miss his first game."