DALLAS — The news was good regarding Dirk Nowitzki's left knee.
The mood? That was improving, too, although when you are completely downcast, it doesn't take much to perk up your disposition.
The Mavericks' chances in the Western Conference finals still sit somewhere between unlikely and hopeless, but at least they got back on the practice court Saturday knowing that they aren't completely dead against the San Antonio Spurs and that their best player isn't seriously hurt.
Nowitzki's MRI test showed that he suffered a sprain to the ligaments that hold his left kneecap in place. The typical recovery time is 10 days to two weeks, although doctors wouldn't rule out a more rapid return.
The 7-foot Nowitzki is officially listed as doubtful for Sunday's Game 4 at American Airlines Center, but Mavericks coach Don Nelson declared Nowitzki definitely out. Regardless, the information from the MRI had everybody in an upbeat mood, particularly Nowitzki.
"It's great news," he said. "I think I was lucky. It could have been a lot worse after seeing the replay. I was really fortunate that nothing happened to the key ligaments.
"I've never had a knee injury before, and I was just in shock. I had pain and I couldn't move it. But it started feeling better, and (Saturday) morning I could walk around, so it's a lot better than I thought at first."
The Mavericks had feared the worst when Nowitzki crashed awkwardly to the floor after colliding with San Antonio's Manu Ginobili. Nowitzki's left knee appeared to buckle inward, and the nature of how the injury happened was similar to some that are extremely serious.
After results of the MRI, the mood was far more sunny.
"This is about as good as could be expected," Nelson said. "We're all thankful the injury isn't as serious as it could have been. He certainly won't be playing in the next game. But after that it depends on the doctors and him determining if he's 100 percent ready to go."
Nelson said he figured Nowitzki would be sore for some time. "He really snapped that knee back," Nelson said. "And that's serious. There is no game big enough to jeopardize Dirk Nowitzki or any of my other players."
However, Nelson will not allow his team to use Nowitzki's bum leg as a crutch.
"My philosophy as a coach for 25 years is that if you have injuries, you never use them as an excuse," Nelson said. "The team is 12 players. And when somebody goes down, the next guy gets an opportunity. You insert that player and you go on and you win. We can still play and win and play at a high level."
Nowitzki's injury technically is a medial retinacular sprain. There was no other structural damage. Team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal of the Texas Sports Medicine Clinic said the 10-to-14 day recovery time is not hard and fast.
"Dirk is an amazing athlete, and with 24-hour treatment that we have already implemented, we hope he may be able to return to the court during this series," Souryal said.
There was more bad news on the injury front as 7-6 Shawn Bradley is out indefinitely after an MRI revealed a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. In addition, 6-11 Evan Eschmeyer will probably be unavailable because of a sore knee.
That means the Mavericks could be down to nine healthy players in Game 4.
"We're not going to have Dirk or Shawn for the next game," Eduardo Najera said. "We just need to win this one game, then you never know what could happen."
With a manpower shortage, there's no telling what Nelson will throw at the Spurs.
"For sure we're going to be smaller," Nelson said. "We have three of our big guys out, and we weren't the biggest team to start with."
The Spurs are expecting all sorts of chicanery from Nelson, who is legendary for milking odd matchups and turning disadvantages for his team into positive situations.
"We're just going to prepare like they have everybody," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "If they don't have everybody, we have to play the same way. We don't know how to play any other way. It doesn't matter who shows up, as far as how we play. We're just planning on Nowitzki being there. I'm very sure he'll play."
That's the sound of a coach preparing for the worst-case scenario. But either way, the Spurs say that whatever happens, they'll deal with it.
"That's what we've done well against Phoenix and the Lakers," David Robinson said. "If they (the Lakers) are going to put Robert Horry on Tim Duncan and not double-team, you have to make them pay. And I think that's what we have to do as this series goes along."