Glass half-full: The Dallas Mavericks will have the opportunity to improve their dismal bench units. Half empty: Rick Carlisle is being forced to do so. As the result of a knee to the face from Richard Jefferson on Saturday, the Mavs announced that star point guard Rajon Rondo suffered orbital and nasal fractures that will sideline him for at least the next three games.
Here’s the team’s official release:
Rajon Rondo suffered an orbital fracture to his left eye as well as a nasal fracture during the game at Orlando on Saturday, January 31. His status will be updated later this week as more information is available.
Rondo will not travel with the team this week to Golden State and Sacramento while undergoing additional testing and evaluation.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon offers further clarity on the situation, including takes from both Jefferson and Carlisle:
“Hopefully, he has a quick and speedy recovery,” Jefferson said. “Luckily we have the All-Star break not far away, so hopefully that will give him some more time to get right. He’s a tough guy…”
It isn’t known whether surgery will be required to repair Rondo’s facial fractures. Former Mavs guard Jason Terry missed two weeks after undergoing surgery to repair an orbital-bone fracture in March 2010, an extraordinarily quick recovery time. Other players have been sidelined for months after suffering orbital-bone fractures…
“We’ve just got to make it work with the guys that we have available in these situations, and we will,” Carlisle said. “This is part of the challenge of an NBA season.”
Video of the play is below. Rondo stayed on the floor for several minutes afterward before walking to the locker room on his own accord with a towel covering his blood-stained face:
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The Mavericks are an underwhelming 12-9 since acquiring Rondo in late December, but that record belies the nature of the team’s relative problems. Carlisle’s starting unit has been effective over that timeframe, with a slight decline in offensive efficiency offset by expected defensive and rebounding improvement. It’s bench lineups that have hurt the Mavs most over the past six weeks, and specifically the lack of a viable replacement for the traded Brandan Wright.
While Rondo’s absence won’t directly afford more playing time for those vying to emerge as Dallas’ permanent frontcourt reserve, it will give Carlisle more chance to mix and match different combinations in hopes of finding a reliable one. Assuming the Mavericks’ remaining starters stay close to dominant, the injury to Rondo won’t doom their season – especially if he’s able to return immediately after the All-Star break.
32-17 Dallas is currently sixth-place in the Western Conference. It is one and-a-half games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for third, and six games up on the ninth-place New Orleans Pelicans. The Mavericks host the league-worst Minnesota Timberwolves at 8:30 EST on Monday.
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