The Mavericks lost 128-100 to the Suns on Friday night, and the loss was compounded by the loss of forward Josh Howard to a left wrist injury.

Howard left the court and did not return against Phoenix. X-rays were negative, but he admitted that it felt similar to an injury he had in November that caused him to miss two games.

"I came down kind of off-balance and tried to catch myself with my wrist," Howard said. "It caught me by surprise. When I got knocked off balance, I wasn't thinking about my wrist. I was just trying to protect myself. It hurts like hell. I'll keep it above my heart, and, hopefully, it won't hurt as bad."

He admitted that more tests will be conducted when the Mavericks returned home from a road trip.

"Unfortunately, we're on a road trip, and we won't get home to our X-ray machines for a few days," he said. "You always want to go back home. These X-ray machines here at the gym are not like they are at the hospital. And I've had injuries before on this wrist, so you never know if they're looking at old stuff or new stuff."