Dallas Loses Dirk, Game in Hellish Third Quarter

Nowitzki out two weeks, 6-7 games as Mavericks gaze into the abyss
By Jesse Andrews,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2008 9:48 PM CDT
Dallas Loses Dirk, Game in Hellish Third Quarter
San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, of Argentina, (20) pulls in the basketball in front of Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry (31).   (AP Photo/LM Otero)

In a nightmarish third quarter, the Mavericks allowed a game-changing 19-0 run by their archrivals and saw their star forward, Dirk Nowitzki, sustain a lower leg injury on a nasty spill. The sweet-shooting Bavarian is likely to miss a minimum of 6-7 games, reports the Dallas Morning News, and now Dallas's playoff hopes rest in the balance.

With the 88-81 win, the sixth-seeded Spurs improved to three games over the seventh-seeded Mavericks, plus the tiebreaker, and Dallas players admit that without Dirk, their goal will be just to hang on. Said Jason Kidd: "It's a great test to understand who we are. Are we up for this challenge?" (More NBA stories.)

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