Dallas Mavericks will probably have to continue their season without the prospect of seeing Tim Hardaway Jr. back in the court.
The scoring guard broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot on Jan. 22 and underwent surgery on Feb. 1. They were hopes Hardaway could make his return at some point in the playoffs.
However, the Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd shot down those hopes stating that it’s probable that Hardaway will not return for the season.
“He’s a ways away,” Kidd said, per Dallas Morning News. In the question if he’s out for the rest of the season, Kidd answered “probably”.
Hardaway appeared in 42 games prior to his injury. He had a role of adding scoring punch from the bench putting up 14.2 points per.
“I’m going to make sure I’m 100% healthy,” Hardaway said in an interview after the surgery. “That’s the most important part.
Not 85%, not 90%, not 95% because it’s something you don’t want to reaggravate and be out for a longer period of time, and with the bone and where it’s at, a lot of blood doesn’t go into that area of the foot like the rest of the body”.
Even without Hardaway’s scoring, Dallas remained among the top teams in the West, and they are fighting for a place in the postseason being the fifth seed with 10 games remaining for the end of the regular season.
The Mavericks will return in action Wednesday against the rebuilding Houston Rockets. Dallas sees every game the rest of the way as a “must-win” as they are still just 2.5 games from the seventh seed that leads to the play-in.
More importantly, they are in the race to improve their seeding being just one game behind the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz. In any case, the Mavericks will need every win they can take for the rest of the season.
تعليقات