Mavs head to Cleveland Sunday with 3 guys down

Caron Butler hurt his knee in Saturday's game against the Bucks as he was jumping up for a rebound. Despite the potential seriousness of the injury, he stood up and walked off the court. He stayed in Milwaukee while the Mavs travelled to Cleveland today. He will be flown back to Dallas where he will get his knee MRI-ed and checked by a doctor to be diagnosed. It is likely he has a tendon injury which means his season could be in jeopardy or atleast a big portion of it.

Without Butler, not only will Dirk lose an important side-kick but the Mavs will lose a starter and their rotation will definitely be shaken up when a new starter at small forward has to replace him.

Aside from Butler, Nowitzki will again sit out for today's game as his injury is still day to day and he's hoping to come back sometime next week. Whether Marion will sit out or play is not yet known.

Although the Mavs are three men down, there's not other team they'd rather be facing tonight other than the Cavs, who have lost their last 16 of 17 games. They also have big men injured. Mo Williams is out due to a left hip flexor strain and Daniel Gibson did not play against the Bulls because of a left thigh contusion; both are listed as day to day. They're also without Anderson Varejao while who is recovering from a broken cheekbone.

Dominique Jones is likely to come back from the D-League to rejoin the Mavs in Cleveland tonight.

The Mavs need to work together and figure out who is willing to step up in place of their three injured big men.

"We've got some other guys that are certainly capable, and they've got to step up and play well for us." Carlisle concluded.

"We've been hit with the injury bug a little bit," Kidd added. "But we feel we've got enough guys to win ballgames."

The Mavs are hopeful to hand Cleveland another loss.