Mavs Forward Maxi Kleber Out For 'Extended Period' Due to Leg Injury
The Dallas Mavericks will be without Maxi Kleber for the foreseeable future. He has been sidelined for the last few games due to a right knee sprain and had been considered questionable to play as recently as the lead-up to the Mavs' 105-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
The Mavs announced that Kleber also suffered a tear of his right hamstring at practice on Tuesday, December 13. While the team didn't offer a projected timetable for return, an estimated six-to-eight weeks timeline was reported by The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Kleber has proven instrumental to the Mavs' defense. He is often trusted to slide over a small ball five role to close games while deploying a switch-everything scheme while being capable of spacing out from beyond the 3-point line on offense.
The Mavs' defensive struggles without Kleber were on display during Wednesday's 105-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. With no shortage of talented double big-man lineups, the Cavs proved challenging to contain.
"Obviously, on the defensive end he's one of our better defenders, so we miss him out there," Mavs superstar Luka Doncic said of Kleber's absence. "On the defense end he can rebound. And on offense he can shoot and space the floor. We really miss him."
With Kleber sidelined, Christian Wood is the only traditional big man option the Mavs have to space out the floor. Dallas has succeded in the minutes that Wood has shared the floor with Doncic, producing a 118.0 offensive rating and 6.9 net rating in 386 minutes.
"You look at his defense first — his toughness and his ability to stretch the floor like Wood," Kidd said of what the Mavs miss without Kleber.
At times, the Mavs have shown willingness to deploy micro-ball lineups with Dorian Finney-Smith playing at the five spot. Doing so becomes more challenging until Josh Green can return to action and have rhythm back after being sidelined due to a right elbow sprain.
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