Mavericks won’t rush injured Rondo back

As Rajon Rondo rests while trying to avoid possible surgery, the Dallas Mavericks won’t even think about trying to rush their talented point guard back onto the court.

Not now. And not ever.

“It’s like anything else; it’s hard for us and it’s certainly hard for him,” said Donnie Nelson, the Mavs’ president of basketball operations.

“You want him to heal quicker if that’s possible, but you just got to be patient and we’ve got to have his best interest and our team’s best interest going forward, so it’s not something you can rush.

“We’re listening to the counsel of our doctors and our medical staff and trainers. Hand in hand, we’ll make those decisions based on the best of interest of Rajon and the Mavericks.”

Rondo suffered an orbital fracture to his left eye and a nasal fracture when teammate Richard Jefferson inadvertently ran into him with a knee during the Mavs’ Jan. 31 game in Orlando.

The nine-year veteran has already missed five games, and also will sit out Wednesday’s home game against Utah entering the All-Star break.

Rondo again will be evaluated over the break. The Mavs hope he can return after the week-long break in time for the Feb. 19 game at Oklahoma City.

If Rondo has to have surgery, Nelson isn’t sure how long the four-time All-Star would be sidelined.

“It’s really a medical question,” Nelson said. “I’m a lot of things, but ‘doctor’ isn’t one of them, and I didn’t even play one on TV.

“I think it’s kind of premature to speculate on that. But we’re certainly in great hands medically out here.”

The Mavs are only 13-8 in games Rondo has played since they acquired him in a trade with the Boston Celtics on Dec. 18. Without Rondo in the lineup, the Mavs are 22-11.

Rondo is averaging 9.2 points, 5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 29.1 minutes per game since joining the Mavs. And he was close to settling in nicely with his new teammates when the injury occurred.

“It’s hard because when you have a new quarterback there’s just a rhythm and a different flow,” Nelson said. “And when that happens and all of a sudden he’s not there, there is a period of adjustment there.

“But the good news is we’ve got one of the great coaches in the NBA, in my opinion, that deals extremely well with situations like this. And you’ve got guys like J.J. [Barea] and Devin [Harris] that have more than picked up the slack.’’

The Mavs are 3-2 since Rondo’s injury with the only loss coming Wednesday at Golden State, which has the best record in the NBA.

Snub no big deal

The Mavs are not concerned with having no players in Sunday’s All-Star Game.

By the time the coaches finished voting for their All-Star candidates two weeks ago, 11 teams had won at least 30 games. The Mavs were the only one of those 11 that didn’t have a player in the game, which will be played at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“We’re not really talking about it,” Barea said. “We’re just focusing on getting wins as much as we can and taking a good break and going home an all-star.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2015 at 9:57 PM with the headline "Mavericks won’t rush injured Rondo back."