Dirk Nowitzki’s sore right knee kept him out of the Dallas Mavericks’ preseason game against FC Barcelona Regal, and arthroscopic surgery might be the next step.

“We’ll see how it responds,” Nowitzki said. “But the longer we wait, obviously the worse it is. If we have to do something, it’d be better to do it quick.

“But we’re still hopeful that this is a temporary thing. If we relax and rest it for a week and see how it goes, then we’ll have a better idea.”

Nowitzki started experiencing soreness in his right knee when training camp opened on Sept. 29.

“There was some swelling already when we started last week and the last two days, it didn’t really respond too well,” he said.