Maxi Kleber Nears Return to Mavs' Lineup; Will He Play vs. Pacers?

The Dallas Mavericks may gain Maxi Kleber back into their lineup soon. Will he be available to play against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday?

DALLAS — After being sidelined since Dec. 12, Maxi Kleber appears to be rapidly nearing his return to the Dallas Mavericks' lineup. He tore his right hamstring in a matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder and hasn't played in over two months. 

According to Marc Stein, there is optimism from the Mavs that Kleber can return to the lineup for Tuesday's matchup against the Indiana Pacers. 

There is optimism in Dallas that key defender Maxi Kleber, out since mid-December with a right hamstring tear, will make his much-anticipated return to the lineup Tuesday against Indiana, league sources say.

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Kleber has been practicing with the Mavs since Wednesday, but Mavs coach Jason Kidd didn't guarantee that he'd be able to make his return to the lineup during the six-game homestand. 

“We’ll see,” Kidd said. “That’s not a guarantee. Again, it’s about how he feels. So we’ll just see how it goes. It would be great to get him back with us in the homestand, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll be ready to go.”

There is an apparent need for the Mavs to improve in how they defend the paint. The opposition is averaging 60.4 points in the paint against them over their last 10 games, which has only been outdone by the San Antonio Spurs for worst in the NBA. 

Following the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith, the Mavs have lacked many options to play the four with the necessary size and versatility required to fill the void against recent opposing players like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, or Michael Porter Jr. Depending on how the coaching staff intends to utilize Kleber positionally, he would immediately add needed size on the perimeter. 

“It’s big because of his ability to guard multiple positions, his want-to to play defense sometimes not look at the basket on the offensive end, it gives us the luxury to be able to play Maxi and Luka and Kai out there," Kidd said of Kleber on Wednesday. "Hopefully, when he does come back, he helps us. Now we’re not trying to put pressure on Maxi to do everything defensively, but we do miss Maxi, and hopefully he’s back soon.”

When Kleber played alongside another big like Christian Wood earlier in the season, the Mavs often opted to have him anchor the defense. With how Wood's minutes have been confusingly reduced as of late, will the team choose to play both of them together given how well they complement each other on both ends? That will be an important development to monitor. 

Kleber signed a three-year, $33 million contract extension before the season. He has appeared in 22 games, averaging 6.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 25.6 minutes per game.

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