<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">LOS ANGELES ? Don Nelson will be counting the minutes until the regular season is over. The Mavericks coach isn't anxious. He's cautious. In these final 26 games, Nelson wants to reduce the playing time of Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Josh Howard to keep them fresh for the playoffs. "I don't want to overplay anybody," Nelson said before Wednesday night's 101-92 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. "It's not hard to take a few minutes away from some guys. The main thing is to keep winning while we do it." Nelson doesn't want Nowitzki to average more than 38 minutes the rest of the way. He'd like to slice about two minutes a game off Howard's average of 33 minutes. Finley is in for the biggest adjustment. Nelson said he doesn't want to see the guard play more than 26 to 28 minutes a night. That would represent a dramatic decline for Finley. He entered the game averaging 39.5 minutes this season and hasn't averaged less than 38 for the Mavericks in the last seven years. "I understand," Nelson said. "But he needs to have his minutes cut. He's playing too many." The return of Marquis Daniels and Jerry Stackhouse naturally cuts into some of Finley's minutes. But Nelson is also unhappy with Finley's lack of rebounding. He failed to get a rebound in 34 minutes against New Orleans and had only three in a span of 86 minutes that extended through the first half of Wednesday night's game. "If he's really going well, I'll play him as many minutes as I need to," Nelson said. "But if he's having one of those games where he's not productive, that's a good time to rest him, you know." </div> Source
