<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">DALLAS - When it comes to not practicing his players so hard, Mavericks coach Avery Johnson admitted that he has to know when to say when. A perfect example occurred after last Sunday's loss at New Jersey. Still fuming from the 15th loss of the season, Johnson proceeded to make practice plans for the next three days. Bad idea. "I did my practice plans Sunday night, and it's normally not good for me to do a practice plan after a loss," Johnson said. "I did Wednesday's practice on Sunday because I knew I wasn't going to be at practice Monday. "When I came in and showed it to my coaches, they thought it was pretty comical for 10 [healthy] people and three centers. It was almost like a training camp sort of practice." When to rest players, particularly with the playoffs looming, has been a delicate situation for fiery, hard-working coaches such as Johnson. The Mavericks will have four more times before the end of the regular season when they have two-day breaks between games. "A lot of times if the body is fatigued in a certain area and it's not getting the proper rest, then it'll shut down on you," Johnson said. "And that's how injuries happen." On Wednesday, Johnson assured Dirk Nowitzki that he wouldn't decrease his playing time any time soon. "Dirk is a workaholic, but I think he's taken more off days this year than he has [in the past]," Johnson said. When the extra off days arise, Johnson said he might have to use them when his four injured players -- Keith Van Horn, Josh Howard, Adrian Griffin and Devin Harris -- return. Van Horn could play as early as Saturday against Atlanta, and the entire team should be intact by the last six games of the season.</div> Source
