Dirk Nowitzki will play tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers
Dirk Nowitzki will suit up for the Dallas Mavericks (5-2) while Caron Butler will sit out his second straight game as Dallas takes on the Philadelphia 76ers
(2-6) on Friday 12 November at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Nowitzki, averaging 23.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, left Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second quarter after injuring his left ankle but did return in the second half.
The former MVP, averaging 36.0 minutes per game, played only 30 in their win over the Grizzlies.
"He's OK," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters Friday morning of Nowitzki. "He's expected to play."
Butler was forced to leave Monday night’s 89-87 win over the Boston Celtics with back spasms after playing 27 minutes. The small forward, averaging 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds, didn’t
travel with the team to Memphis and missed his team's shootaround on Friday morning. Carlisle hopes to
have him back soon.
"Hopefully we can get this thing resolved and have him ready for Monday [against New Orleans], but we're going to continue to list him day to day. We're going to err on the side of caution."
Shawn Marion started in place of Butler on Wednesday against Memphis, scoring 20 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Marion, averaging 10.3 points and 6.6 rebounds,
is likely to get another start tonight against Philadelphia.
"Shawn's a high-level player," Carlisle said. "The other night he was doing some great things, both offensively and defensively; getting our movement game going on offense, and defensively
he's always going to have one of the tough assignments."
Marion will likely match up against Andre Iguodala tonight, who returns to the Sixers' lineup after missing two consecutive games with tendinitis in his right Achilles tendon.
The return of Rodrigue Beaubois, Dallas’ second-year guard out of France, is still in question as Beaubois’ left foot remains in a boot.
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