Strange as it sounds, the Mavericks should actually feel lucky about Dirk Nowitzki's knee injury.

Even though Nowitzki missed his second consecutive game in the Western Conference finals Tuesday, the injury could have been much worse, according to team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal.

"The team dodged a bullet," Souryal said. "A few more degrees [of hyperextension] and we may have been looking at a torn MCL or ACL. And we're not talking very many more degrees. If that had happened, we'd be talking training camp instead of the next day."