The Mavericks could be without Josh Howard indefinitely after his problematic left ankle was put in a walking boot on Tuesday.

Howard missed his ninth-straight game on Tuesday when the Mavericks took on the Spurs.

"You're talking about a dynamic athlete that needs to be up to near full capacity physically to do the things he does," coach Rick Carlisle said. "So you can't put him out there unless he is pain-free and swelling-free and right now he's not."

Multiple MRIs have shown no structural damage and nothing requiring surgery.

"He's made progress, but he isn't there yet so we're going to shut him down for a little bit," Carlisle said. "He's made a great effort to get back, but there's a yo-yo effect going on with the swelling. Right now, this is the right thing to do. Rather than get into a speculative amount of time, we're just going to say it's for a while."