Last Tuesday, all-star forward Josh Howard put his injured ankle into a walking boot. This is bad news for the Mavericks, because the management doesn’t know when Howard is going to be back in playing shape. Te Mavericks are losing a lot with Howard’s injury: he is the team’s second leading rebounder and scorer.

He already missed eight straight games due to the injury and every time he seemed close to returning the ankle swelled up again.

 “You’re talking about a dynamic athlete that needs to be up to near full capacity physically to do the things he does,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “So you can’t put him out there unless he is pain-free and swelling-free and right now he’s not.”

Multiple MRI’s have been conducted on the sixth foot forward and so far the results have been positive. So the team doctors think the best option is to mobilize the ankle’s healing with much needed rest.

To make matters worst for Dallas, veteran standout Jerry Stackhouse (Howard’s most qualified replacement) is also suffering from an injury that has sidelined him since mid-November.