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Nowitzki, Mavericks trying to overcome Terry's absence

Feb 10, 2009 - 3:18 PM Sacramento (11-41) at Dallas (30-20) 8:30 p.m. EST

DALLAS (Ticker) -- Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is looking for some of his role players to step up in Jason Terry's absence. If Dirk Nowitzki plays like he did in his last game, the rest of the team has little to worry about.

Nowitzki and the Mavericks go for their sixth win in seven games and try to continue their home dominance against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

Terry, a sixth man who averaged 19.9 points and 3.7 assists while playing in all 50 of Dallas' games this season, broke the fourth metacarpal on his left hand in Saturday's 115-114 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls.

The 31-year-old guard underwent surgery Monday and no timetable has been set for his return, but he likely will be out several weeks at the least.

Carlisle believes he has the pieces in place to hedge Terry's loss.

"We've got (Gerald) Green, (Matt) Carroll, (Devean) George. All these guys," Carlisle said. "Jose Juan Barea is going to take a more prominent role, obviously. Our big people might have to take up the slack a little bit, too, because of the scoring."

Without Terry in the lineup, Nowitzki took over Saturday's contest, scoring 44 points, including 14 in the extra session, to lead the Mavericks back from a late, five-point deficit.

A similar performance from Nowitzki should be enough for Dallas to earn a win over the Kings, who have suffered nine straight losses at American Airlines Center since claiming a 126-124 overtime victory on February 27, 2003.

Sacramento has lost three straight and 11 of its last 12 games overall, including a 116-113 setback to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.