Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki injured a finger on his left hand Tuesday night, but the big German isn't expected to miss any games.
Nowitzki tore a tendon in his left middle finger during Tuesday's night loss against the Miami Heat. He was hurt trying to swipe the ball from the Heat's Chris Bosh during the fourth quarter.
Instead, a foul was called on the play, and when he looked at his hand, "I couldn't straighten my finger out anymore."
But an X-ray showed that he had no broken bones.
"It was just a freaky play," Nowitzki said. "I have to wear a splint probably for the rest of the playoffs, for a couple of weeks. But it will be all right."
He was seen in the locker room after the game with the team doctor, who had an X-ray envelope.
Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points in the opener, but made only 7 of 18 shots.
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Overall, the Mavericks made 37.3 percent of their shots -- worst of the postseason -- so they're going to need Nowitzki to be as accurate as possible in Game 2 to keep the series from slipping away.
He is right-handed, so he uses his left hand mostly to guide his shots. Nowitzki said he doesn't expect the injury or the bandage to be much of an issue.
Neither does Heat star LeBron James.
"He's right-handed," James said. "It won't affect him. He's still going to be great. He's still Dirk."
NBC DFW's Matt Barrie contributed to this report.
