What It Means:

This will be six straight misses for Nowitzki, who has already been limited to just five contests in his 19th NBA season. It's unclear when he may be able to return, but with the losses piling up for Dallas, there isn't much incentive for head coach Rick Carlisle to rush him back. The Mavericks are going to keep Dwight Powell busy with Nowitzki and Andrew Bogut (knee) both currently unavailable.

In the five games he has played, Nowitzki averaged only 12.1 points while posting a dismal .435 true shooting percentage and a -0.7 nERD rating -- the first time in his career he's posted a negative clip.