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Mavs to face lowly Clippers without Nowitzki

Mar 25, 2008 - 1:35 PM LA Clippers (21-48) at Dallas (44-26) 8:30 pm EDT

DALLAS (Ticker) - Life without Dirk Nowitzki won't be easy for the Dallas Mavericks.

The slowly-fading Mavericks take the court for the first time with Nowitzki in the lineup on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

In the third quarter of Sunday's 88-81 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Nowitzki suffered a damaging left leg injury that could force him to miss up to three weeks of action.

"We'll take it day-by-day, trust our trainers, trust our doctors, then go from there," Nowitzki said. "Hopefully I can move where I can already go on the underwater treadmill a little bit in the next couple of days so at least I can put some pressure on it and see how it feels."

The injury comes at a terrible time for Dallas, which is just one game ahead of the Golden State Warriors (43-27) for eighth place in the Western Conference standings.

Following Tuesday's game, the shorthanded Mavericks embark on a tough three-game road swing with stops at Denver, Golden State and the Clippers.

Los Angeles enters after dropping its seven consecutive game, an 83-72 decision at home to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Corey Maggette led the way with 21 points.

The injury-riddled Clippers have lost both meetings in the series this season, including a 102-89 decision here on December 21.