There is a chance the Mavericks will be without Dirk Nowitzki this weekend.

Nowitzki will travel with the team to Milwaukee and Cleveland, but his return from a knee injury is questionable.

He has missed two games with a sprained right knee.

"It's already better than it was two days ago, but it wasn't good enough to play today," Nowitzki said Thursday night.

"I would have loved to have been out here in front of this crowd, but unfortunately it didn't work. Maybe this weekend, maybe early next week, that's what I'm looking at."

Dallas is 0-2 without Nowitzki.

"Dirk is smart about his body," owner Mark Cuban said. "He'll let us know. The MRIs will let us know. The doctors know what's at stake, so I'm not worried about it. We have a great medical staff, we have a great training staff. We'll do the right thing."

The Mavericks will not get Rodrigue Beaubois back anytime soon, according to Rick Carlisle.

"I'm not going to talk about Roddy's situation until it becomes something imminent," Carlisle told 1310-AM The Ticket in Dallas.

"We're a ways away from that. To get into that stuff and speculate this or that and how it's going to disrupt chemistry is a negative conversation. We have to make sure we can get him healthy. His activity level has been stepped up. Those are all positive things. That's going to be one of those good problems I'm looking forward to having."

Beaubois has missed the entire season with a fractured foot.

The Mavericks will be without Dirk Nowitzki on Tuesday night when they face the Raptors.

Nowitzki left the team's win over the Thunder on Monday night with a knee in injury in the second quarter.

He had an MRI exam on his right knee Tuesday morning that revealed a sprain and Dallas has listed him as day-to-day.

Dirk Nowitzki left the Mavericks' win over the Thunder on Monday night in the second quarter with a sore right knee.

He scored 13 points before leaving with 9:10 left in the first half.

Nowitzki said after the game that he was day-to-day. He will have an MRI exam on his right knee Tuesday morning. X-rays on his right knee were negative.

"You hate to see the big German go down," Jason Terry said. "But we saw him at halftime and he was smiling. He told us, 'No problem. You guys got this."

Rick Carlisle underwent minor arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday and is unable to travel.

Dwane Casey will serve as the head coach of the Mavericks on Monday night against the Thunder.

"It is no different. [Assistant coach] Terry [Stotts] and I both have been through this before," Casey said.

"We have veteran players and we just have to continue what we have [been doing]. What we have to do is regroup and re-energize our edge, the edge that we had before the break, especially against a team like Oklahoma City."

Carlisle is expected to return to the bench for Tuesday's home game against the Raptors.

Mark Cuban told the Star-Telegram that there is no truth to a CBS Sports report that the Mavericks are trying to acquire Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets.

Sources told Ken Berger of CBS Sports that Anthony would be a "rented" player for the Mavericks, who would be unlikely to re-sign him as a free agent after the season.

Cuban said he was furious when he read the report.

"If [Ken Berger] is going to make things up, the reporter should at least be honest enough to say he is making things up," Cuban said. "Not one grain of truth to anything he said."

The Mavericks are aggressively trying to acquire Carmelo Anthony, according to league source.

Dallas isn't concerned about receiving any assurances from Anthony about signing a long-term deal after the season.

Mark Cuban is eager not only to add Anthony to an already dangerous roster, but also to steal him from the Nets and billionaire rival Mikhail Prokhorov.

The Mavericks are planning what one rival executive described as a "hard" push.  

They have yet to make a concrete offer to the Nuggets for Anthony.

The Rockets are also believed to be a team that is interested in either landing Anthony or becoming a third-team in any team.

Ken Berger of CBS Sports writes that in order for a team like the Mavericks to land Anthony, they'll have to shift Denver's focus towards "rental" deals because there's no way they can compete with what the Nets can offer.

Dirk Nowitzki passed Hall of Famer Larry Bird to move into 25th on the NBA's all-time scoring list on Tuesday night.

He entered the game with 21,781 career points, 10 shy of Bird's total.

Nowitzki surpassed Bird on the first possession of the fourth quarter by hitting a three-pointer.

"I just got a text message from Larry right as the game ended saying to congratulate Dirk and that he's always been a huge fan," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.

"They've had a chance to spend some time together. I'm sure he's going to text Dirk and I'm sure that will be very meaningful for Dirk."

According to NBA sources, there are a few teams that are open to "renting" Carmelo Anthony for the remainder of the season.

Those clubs, likely contenders, are fine with trading for Anthony knowing that they may not be able to sign him to a long-term contract.

The sources wouldn't identify the teams, but Dallas could be one team that has inquired.

The Nets remain the most likely suitor for Anthony.

Dirk Nowitzki has compared the defensive impact Tyson Chandler has had in Dallas to what Kevin Garnett has done for Boston.

"I don't think Ray [Allen] or Paul Pierce were great defenders before K.G. got there," Nowitzki said. "But, K.G., with his energy, his defense, his mentality and his high-octane self, he kind of changed the whole momentum on the defense. I think that's what Tyson did here."

The Mavericks are holding teams to six fewer points than a year ago (93.2) to rank tied for fifth in the league, and they're fourth in opponent field-goal percentage (43.5).

Nowitzki's point on the Celtics has merit.

Boston ranked in the bottom half of the league in two key defensive categories -- 18th in scoring defense (99.2), and 24th in opponent field-goal percentage (46.8) -- the season before Garnett arrived.

The very next season, the Celtics finished No. 2 in scoring defense (90.3) and No. 1 in opponent field-goal percentage (41.9).