Mavericks’ Nowitzki out with swelling in right knee

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki missed Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with swelling in his right knee..

Coach Rick Carlisle said he has no idea how long the knee effusion will keep his 13-time All-Star sidelined.

Carlisle said the injury likely occurred during Monday’s 118-113 overtime win against the Boston Celtics.

“He hit the floor a couple of times [Monday] night,” Carlisle said. “He may have gotten it banged — it’s uncertain.

“But we’ll watch it very closely and hopefully sitting out [Wednesday] and getting treatment and doing whatever strengthening things that he does on an ongoing basis will facilitate it in not being an issue.”

Guard Raymond Felton also missed Wednesday’s game with an eye injury he sustained against the Celtics when he was inadvertently hit by Boston forward Jae Crowder.

Carlisle said he wasn’t sure if the swelling in Nowitzki’s knee was related to the back-to-back games the Mavs recently played.

Nowitzki played 24 minutes — none in the fourth quarter — in Sunday’s 112-83 loss in San Antonio. He followed that up by playing 35 minutes Monday.

Nowitzki, 37, played more than 35 minutes on the second end of a back-to-back on two other occasions this season with no issues.

As a precaution, the Mavs have sat Nowitzki three times on the second leg of a back-to-back.

Nowitzki had surgery on his right knee in October 2012.

Nowitzki, averaging 17.8 points per game, is the oldest player in the NBA leading his team in scoring this season. He also is the most likely Maverick to be voted by Western Conference coaches to the Feb. 14 All-Star Game in Toronto.

“I think people are continuing to wait for him to really show his age,” Mavs shooting guard Wesley Matthews said. “But he’s a true professional, he works on his craft the whole time and he’s still coming up big for us and this franchise.”

Mavs 9th in value

Forbes Magazine has listed the Mavericks as the ninth-most valuable team in the NBA. The magazine said the Mavs are worth $1.4 billion, a 22 percent increase from 2015.

But owner Mark Cuban had some choice words — with a political twist — about the ranking. “It just says they evaluate companies like Donald [Trump] does his hair,” Cuban said.

The top five most valuable teams, according to Forbes, are the New York Knicks ($3 billion), Los Angeles Lakers ($2.7 billion), Chicago Bulls ($2.3 billion), Boston Celtics ($2.1 billion) and Los Angeles Clippers ($2 billion).

The Houston Rockets are ranked eighth ($1.5 billion) and the San Antonio Spurs are 11th ($1.15 billion).

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Mavericks’ Nowitzki out with swelling in right knee."