DALLAS (May 24, 2003) – Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki underwent an MRI this morning on his left knee, which he injured in the fourth quarter of last night’s game against San Antonio.

The MRI showed Nowitzki suffered a medial retinacular sprain (ligaments that hold the kneecap in place) of his left knee. The MRI also confirmed there was no other structural damage to his knee.

“With an injury like this the typical recovery time is 10-14 days,” said Mavericks team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal of the Texas Sports Medicine Clinic. “However Dirk is an amazing athlete and with 24-hour treatment, that we have already implemented, we hope he may be able to return to the court during this series.”

“We are all thankful that Dirk’s injury is not as serious as it could have been,” said Mavericks head coach Don Nelson. “But we will continue to abide by our decision to not play him unless he is 100 percent.”

Nowitzki is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s Game 4 with the Spurs at the American Airlines Center.

A MRI performed today on Shawn Bradley’s right knee showed he has suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament. He is out indefinitely.

QUOTES FROM DIRK NOWITZKI SAT., MAY 24:
What’s your reaction to getting positive results back from your MRI?
Well, it’s great news. I think I was lucky. I think it could have been a lot worse after seeing the replay last night. I was really fortunate that nothing major happened to the key ligaments. Basically what happened last night is that I’ve never had a knee injury before and I was just in shock. I had pain and I didn’t know what to do… I couldn’t move it. Already last night, it started feeling better and this morning I could walk around so it’ s a lot better than I thought at first.

If you are unable to play in Sunday’s game or in the games following, are you confident in your team’s ability to win without you?
I think we would still have a good team, everyone would just have to step up scoring wise. Nick (Van Exel) is going to have to have a good game off the bench…. Steve (Nash) and Mike (Michael Finley) have to do their thing, and everyone off the bench has to come in aggressive and score. I think we’ ll be in pretty good shape.

What’s your take on the media writing the team off after Game 3?
They really didn’t give us a chance before. We’re not going to win the Portland series, we’re not going to win the Sacramento series… none of the reporters gave us a chance in either series. I just think in basketball that anything is possible and every game has to be played before a team can be written off.