Barea gets ‘a little bit of good news' after suffering injury vs. Celtics

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BOSTON – Already undermanned as it is, the Dallas Mavericks will be without another one of their key players this season. 

In the fourth quarter of Boston’s 90-83 win over the Mavericks, former Northeastern star J.J. Barea went down with a left leg injury that will keep him out for a yet-to-be determined amount of time. 

Barea, dribbling the ball, suddenly went down without any contact and began to grab his left calf followed by him pounding the parquet floor, visibly in pain. 

“Never felt that in my basketball career,” said Barea who finished with nine points and six assists. “I thought it was the Achilles, but a little bit of good news it’s my calf. Hopefully I don’t need surgery or anything, just got to wait. 

Barea added, “Feels like you got shot or you’re trying to run and get shot in the leg. That’s how you feel for a second. I’ve been having problems with my Achilles lately and I thought it was it, but it’s fine so hopefully it’s not bad.”

Mavericks coach and former Celtic Rick Carlisle said Barea has what he believes is a strained calf injury. 

“We will get an MRI and stuff, but he will be out for a while. It wasn’t anything real serious so we’re very lucky.”

The Mavericks (2-8) are already dealing with an Achilles injury to Dirk Nowitzki who has missed the last five games for Dallas but is apparently close to returning to action. 

And on Wednesday, they got Deron Williams back after he had missed the four previous games with a left calf strain – the same injury that Barea is likely dealing with. 

The injury could not come as a worst time for Barea who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career this season. 

Despite Dallas’ struggles in terms of wins and losses, Barea was having a career season, averaging 17.3 points, 5.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. 

“It’s been a tough start. I’m frustrated. I was playing good and I was playing a lot, but I was helping the team out. (Wednesday night) we finally got into a little rhythm right at the end and I go down. We got to do a good job of staying together and we got a good coaching staff and good players and we’re going to stay together and try to fight this out and get back strong.”

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