The Dallas Mavericks will be without talented young point guard Devin Harris for the next 2-3 weeks due to a bone bruise in his left ankle. The injury comes at a bad time for the Mavs as Jerry Stackhouse is also out for about a week nursing a strained hamstring.
FANTASY IMPACT
Fantasy owners will miss Harris' steady point guard play as he has been enjoying a solid season averaging 14 points, 5 assists and over one steal a night while putting up good FG and FT percentages. The losses of Harris and Stackhouse in the short-term will leave the Mavericks short-handed in the backcourt and scrambling to make up for the nearly 25 points a game the two put up collectively.
Jason Terry, who has been playing off the ball a majority of the season at the 2 guard, will slide down to the point guard position in Harris' absence and should see an immediate rise in his assist numbers. The scoring burden will be placed more heavily on Dallas' big 3 - Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and the aforementioned Terry - and each should see a rise in points in the short-term.
The Mavs aren't overly deep at guard and will be forced to give more minutes to the artist formerly known as Eddie Jones who is nothing more than a complementary bench piece at this point in his career. One mildly intriguing option on the Mavs bench is third year guard Jose Juan Barea who has shown some flashes of being able to light up the scoreboard with extended minutes.
Barea had a magical night on November 3rd against Sacramento, putting up 25 points and 5 assists while going 4-4 from the 3 point line in a season-high 29 minutes. If Avery Johnson chooses to give the thrice named Puero Rican native some burn, he may be able to provide desperate owners with some contributions in the scoring and three point department.
Of course, my best recommendation for owners attempting to replace Harris is to immediately add Kyle Lowry if he is still available.
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