Nowitzki suffers sore right knee in match against the Oklahoma City Thunders
After losing Coach Rick Carlisle to a knee surgery, the Dallas Mavericks were dealt another major blow, as their ace forward Dirk Nowitzki suffered a knee injury midway through the
match against the Oklahoma City Thunders.
Nowitzki scored 13 points before he left Monday night’s game in the tenth minute of the second quarter. The event unfolded as Nowitzki attempted a fall away jumper, but found the
Oklahoma City centre Serge Ibaka in his path. Ibaka apparently fouled the seven-foot tall German superstar on the arm, and Nowitzki failed to balance himself that caused him to stumble backward to the floor.
After taking some time to get back to his feet, the sharp shooter slipped in a pair of free throws and then gingerly left for the bench. He did not return during the entire match.
Post match Nowitzki maintained that the fall had nothing to do with the foul on him. Nowitzki said, "It was just a scary play. The foul was on my arm so it was just on the landing. I landed awkward and
strained it more than I guess it already was. It [the knee] kind of gave in. I don't know what really happened, I've got to look at the play. But, for some reason my knee gave in."
The team doctor immediately carried out X-rays on Nowitzki's knee, which came out be negative much to the respite of the Dallas faithful. Though, it is understood that he would undergo
an MRI scan, first thing in the morning. Nowitzki, who has recently surpassed Larry Bird as the 25th highest scorer in league history, revealed after the match that his knee had been troubling for the past two weeks. "So
maybe that's why it gave in a little bit," Nowitzki said. "Hopefully it's just a strain, and hopefully I'll be back in action soon."
Dirk Nowitzki has been the key cog behind the Dallas Mavericks successful campaign so far. Pounding 24.1 points per game at a shooting average of more than 54 percent, Nowitzki has
been instrumental in sparking the Mavericks to the top of the league this season. The legendary player requires just three points to move past Gary Payton (21,813) into 24th place on the all-time scoring list. He has been plagued by ankle sprains throughout
his 13-year career, but none have kept him sidelined for long.
Instead it was the knee injury in the 2003 season that must bring back haunting memories of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs which rendered him helpless,
as he watched his team lose from the sidelines. Jason Terry, who has been the fourth quarter phenomenon for the Mavericks of late, expressed sympathy with his team-mate after Dallas held on to 103-93
win over the Thunders. "You hate to see the big German go down," He said. "But we saw him at halftime and he was smiling. He told us, 'No problem. You guys got this."'
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