DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson, while not putting off treatment for prostate cancer, still has optimistic plans for late April.
"The sooner I make a decision, the sooner I'll be back," Nelson said Wednesday. "I definitely want to be back for the playoffs."
It appears likely that Nelson will miss some games, but the extent of any absence will be determined by what treatment he pursues. His options include surgery and radiation.
"The certain thing is we are not going to wait around a long time," Nelson said. "We are going to do something as soon as possible. I'm not one to sit around and not get things done. I don't think you fool around with cancer."
The coach met with his doctor Wednesday to discuss the discovery. Nelson said the cancer was detected early and hasn't spread.
"It's pretty well isolated, and there's a lot of positives really with this early detection to give me a good opportunity to continue on," Nelson said.
If Nelson has surgery similar to what New York Yankees manager Joe Torre underwent, the recovery time could be up to two months. Nelson said he planned to seek a second doctor's opinion and also hoped to talk with Torre.
While the Mavericks haven't been to the playoffs since 1990, they are 12-8 after Wednesday night's 94-85 victory over the New York Knicks. Dallas led 32-11 after the first quarter.
"We really weren't trying to think about it too much during the game. I was more inspired by him fighting the illness than him being on the bench," guard Steve Nash said. "Nellie's illness is a major concern. However, he's remained very positive and actually candid and comical. We're really rooting for him."
That was Nelson's 938th victory — tying him for fourth on the NBA career list with his mentor, former Boston coach Red Auerbach.
Nelson told players about his diagnosis after their 109-102 loss at Houston on Tuesday night.
"I don't think the team was too shaken up. We have a lot of hope for him because it was caught early enough," center Shawn Bradley said Wednesday night. "It's hard to say if we are going to miss him before he's gone."
If Nelson does have to miss games, it's likely that assistant Del Harris would fill in. Harris, in his second year on Nelson's staff in Dallas, won 556 games in 13-plus years as head coach for the Lakers, Bucks and Rockets.
"I've been very fortunate to work with some great assistant coaches, none better than Del Harris," Nelson said. "We wouldn't miss a lick. In many cases, Del is a better coach than I am."