<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>DALLAS -- Phoenix Suns guard Raja Bell will miss Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Dallas Mavericks because of a left calf injury sustained midway through the fourth quarter of the opener. Mavs forward Josh Howard has a bone bruise on his right ankle and is listed as day-to-day. Phoenix's Shawn Marion said his twisted left ankle was sore Thursday, but that he'll definitely play Game 2 Friday night. The Suns lead the series 1-0 after a 121-118 victory Wednesday night.Bell said he felt something pop in his leg, dropping him to the court with 5:27 left in the fourth quarter. He was helped off the court and later felt it stiffen. The team opted not to take an MRI because it wouldn't change how he was treated, coach Mike D'Antoni said Thursday. "I don't know how bad it is," D'Antoni said. "It's pretty sore. There's no way he can do it tomorrow. After that, it's day-to-day and we'll have to see." D'Antoni said Leandro Barbosa will start in Bell's place. Phoenix already has won once this postseason without Bell, taking Game 6 of the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers when he was suspended for a hard foul on Kobe Bryant. "I don't see myself as a guy the team can't live without," Bell said. While teammates practiced Thursday, Bell was on his stomach having his calf treated by a trainer. A few feet away, Marion was alternating ice and electric sensors on his left ankle. He said he twisted it in his shoe. "It's hurting, but I'm going to be good," Marion said. "It's better than I expected."Howard was hurt six minutes into the game and didn't return. His injury initially was ruled a sprain, but changed to a bruise following an MRI early Thursday.</div>Well I thought Bell would be out longer than just 2 games. But that does give him about 5 more days to rest and heal it.Every time a Mav had a day-to-day injury this season it turned out longer than expected. Imo the bruise should be healable with in the next couple of days. At worst hopefully no later than Game 3
If Howard takes too long to heal then the Mavs will suffer from it, he is a major part of this team and they might not be able to win w/o him
Josh Howard will be back up on his feet very soon, however without Raja Bell it will be much much harder for the Suns to keep their lead going.
I heard Howard is out. Raja Bell will be like day to day for the whole playoffs. He might not even return. 2 days would be a miracle.
I heard it is a game time decision. Bell's injury definitely seems worse but I think Howard is the better player and the mismatch that Phoenix can't handle. No way Diaw can guard Howard.
They had Raja Bell on a half time interview on ESPN...this guy gets more media attention than Dirk Nowitzki does...
Which is why I get called for homerism on many other sites, but I fee that Dirk is an overlooked superstar.
This is really going to hurt the Suns. They are already playing a 8 man rotation which is bad because they play a fastbreak game and they get tired quicker then any other team. With this injury its going to hurt the resting time the starter will get. I guess all we could do is wait and see how the suns are going to react to this.
I heard Bell might be out the whole playoffs. If this happens it hurts the Suns tremendously. Howard being out hurts the Mavs but his injury isn't to the extent to Bell's. I see the Mavs taking advantage of Bell's absence and winning the series
MAVERICKS NOTESHoward to be a game-time decisionBy MERCEDES MAYERStar-Telegram staff writerDALLAS - Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said Thursday that Josh Howard will be a game-time decision for tonight's Game 2 against the Phoenix Suns.An MRI performed on Howard's right ankle revealed a bone bruise, which doesn't have the swelling normally associated with a sprain, Mavs trainer Casey Smith said.Smith explained that the outside of Howard's foot rolled over, causing bones in his ankle and foot to bang together."It's more a soreness and pain issue than a swelling and stability issue," Smith said, adding that the test for Howard today will be whether he can jump and land on one foot.Howard, who suffered the injury with 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the first quarter of Game 1, did not practice with the team Thursday but did shoot some free throws and jumpers.Howard is averaging 15.5 points per game in the playoffs, and while the Mavs will miss his aggressiveness offensively if he can't play, they will miss his versatility on defense even more."He's our best perimeter defender...we'll miss his activity on the defensive end, his length, his athleticism," Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "But we can't really cry about it. [The Suns] lost [Raja] Bell, too."Howard missed 10 games during the regular season with a sprained right ankle. Jerry Stackhouse and Marquis Daniels are possible candidates to start in Howard's place.Confidence boostThe confidence that seemed to be lacking for Mavs point guard Devin Harris in Games 6 and 7 against San Antonio seemed to come back in the third quarter of Game 1.Harris had eight points in the first half but made all six of his field-goal attempts in the third quarter, scoring 13 points. He finished the game with a career-high 30 points.Harris' resurgence was inspired by Avery Johnson, who needed Harris to get the Mavs' offense going and to make Suns guard Steve Nash work."We've got to make him play defense," Harris said. "He's roaming around just a little too much, just kind of floating around."Grab itThe Mavs outrebounded the Suns 48-38 on Wednesday, their league-record 12th consecutive playoff game with more rebounds than their opponent. That trend should continue against the Suns, who give up plenty of size.The rebounding advantage also gave the Mavs a big edge in second-chance points, 26-6."With their small lineup, you can pound them on the glass, you can get inside a little bit," said Dirk Nowitzki, whose 19 rebounds included eight on the offensive end."But still I didn't think I was as effective as I wanted to be. I didn't really have a great game."
The Mavs are a much deeper team so Howard's injury will hurt but not as much as Bell's. Figures second straight playoff series the Suns shooting guard goes down with a injury, to the same team too. Mavs last year in the conference semis (Johnson) now Bell this year.
Jkidd you're right. Howards injury makes Mavs rely on Stack and Quis and Bells injury makes Suns rely on Barbosa and House. Its an advantage, but then agian a disadvantage
Barbosa is for real. He can do all the things Bell does on offense. This makes Phoenix faster actually and they rely a ton on speed.
Bell is one of thier best if not thier best defender. You cant possibly say this injury is good for the suns.
We have a slight advantage on offense but now with Bell gone I'd take Portland's D over ours...lol. We'll need to score 130 to win.
The suns are better offensively but worse defensively. They don't stop anyone anyways. It's not like they could get much worse.
Yes they could. Terry couldn't do much at all against Bell and now he's free to have a huge game if he wants too. Bell was very important to the D and Kurt would have gotten some more time. The D wouldn't ave been that bad.
You know I have to say watching this series I hate Suns basketball. Probably because I hate it when people do that in pickup games. Those people who play on one side of the ball the whole game. It's just not basketball, I hate when your guy doesn't man you up and when you hit a shot, and try to go back on defense. Your man is already up the court because his ass was cherry picking. That's basically what the Suns do. Mavs got caught up in that and tried to run with them. We need to slow the game down and go inside, they have no shotblockers but instead all I see is jumpshots. Mainly coming from Terry, Stack, Van Horn. Hopefully game 2 we play our way, and pick off some of those cherry pickers.
Terry is a great player but this series does not fit him well. He is not a great driver and depends on his jump shot to get points. I would keep 2 of the 3 players in the game at all times between Harris, Daniels, and Howard and keep giving them the ball to slash to the basket. That is if Josh Howard is healthy. Use the other players to space the floor.
