Maxi Kleber hopes to return to full contact training in two weeks

It was a typical winter practice routine for Maxi Kleber and the Dallas Mavericks. Nothing seemed out normal. Then something was disturbingly wrong.

“We had a practice session and I made a move,” Kleber said. “I had a slight burning sensation on the front of my chin for a long, long time and I always thought I had just been kicked.

“But when I took that step, it’s really hard to say what happened at that moment. But it was like hyperextension, and it was like twisting the muscles and the hamstring. And then, obviously, I couldn’t walk properly after that. We did an MRI and it turned out that one part of the tendon was torn.”

As for Kleber, an injury on December 13 resulted in a torn right hamstring. He is now on the road to recovery from this non-contact injury and hopes to return to the court someday for the foreseeable future.

“The update shows that so far everything is going well as planned,” Kleber said after training on Thursday. “I am surrounded by excellent staff who help me. It’s still obviously taking some time, but right now we’re in the phase where we need to get busy on the court and just figure out how fast I can move forward and move on to jogging and changing direction.

“I have a ball in my hands, I can shoot, I can run and jog a little. But basically, right now, I need to get a feel for how much I can do and how much I can put my legs on when it comes to changing direction. Obviously it’s not always easy, but basically that’s where I’m at right now. So hopefully in a couple of weeks I can get back to training and then play.”

Sitting and watching the Mavs struggle with losses in six of their last eight games, Kleber has not been very pleased.

“Obviously it’s frustrating,” he said. “You always want to be there and help your team, and you have to watch the games from the sidelines.

“You never want to worry about getting well and coming back. You just want to be there with your brothers and help them play basketball.”

Watching from the sidelines, Kleber sees some useful nuggets that he can pass on to his teammates.

“When you play and watch, sometimes you feel a little mentally exhausted,” he said. “It doesn’t happen when you can’t play because you can watch unlimited basketball games and you really want to be there, so you also focus on different things. I see many things.

“Right now I’m obviously focused on how (opposing teams) are playing Luka (Doncic) because Luka is our main guy and right now they’re trying to get the ball out of his hands all the time. So what can we do better, as a team on the back side, to make it easy for him again, because at some point things will change when they don’t double him as much anymore. So just understand all the parts of the game.”

What Kleber doesn’t understand is how a team like the Mavs, which was relatively strong defensively last season, suddenly lost 130 or more points in their last three games. But Kleber believes the defense will kick in soon, hopefully as early as Friday at 6:30 p.m., when the Mavs (24-22) host the Miami Heat (25-21) at the American Airlines Center.

“I still have strong faith because we have a great group of guys,” Kleber said. “Sometimes it can take just one game, one moment, for everything to click.

“We’re pushing so hard (playing defense) like we did last year, but the faith is there. I believe it may have just clicked a bit late, but we have all the answers. If we repeat it over and over and over again, somehow it must click. Otherwise, we will have to question our ability to learn.”

Of course, Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Green do a lot of hard work for the Mavs on the defensive side of the floor. The Mavs are only 10-9 since Kleber got injured.

Meanwhile, Finney-Smith and Green just came back in time for Wednesday’s 130-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Until Wednesday, the Mavs were leading 9-5 this season without Finney-Smith and 11-9 without Green.

“I think the first thing we should all do is stick to the pattern no matter what,” Kleber said. “The game plan can change, the opponents change, so there are so many variables here that you just have to stick to the rules that we have, and sometimes it feels like we don’t do them properly, like last year, and in some the moment it can click.

“Everyone knew what they had to do, no matter who we played, no matter what the fouls and all that, and it has to happen now. Obviously we miss guys like (Finney-Smith) and Josh. It’s not easy to spot all these schemes when you have the best protectors, but everyone should take responsibility because we have all the answers. We just have to do it ourselves.”

What Kleber can take responsibility for now is treatment and what training he can do at this point in his recovery.

“Typical day: I go to the gym, do small routines, do leg exercises, and then do cardio and running,” he said. “And then I’m going to shoot, more procedures, some cold and hot baths, and that’s it for today.

“And the game day is a bit divided. I throw in some cycling because I have extra time because I’m in the gym twice a day.”

Looking back, Kleber never thought this hamstring injury would cost him the rest of this season. He has always been on board the force of positive thinkers.

“As soon as I got the MRI results, the doctors told me what the injury was and how long it would take,” Kleber said. “So I wasn’t worried that it would be the whole season, but obviously it will take time.

“The muscle needs to heal, but I never thought it would last all season. It’s hard to say exactly what time, because it depends on how it heals. But like I said, I’m very optimistic.”

SHORT: On Thursday, the Mavs received some bad news when they learned that center Christian Wood was out indefinitely after breaking his left thumb. The injury occurred in the second quarter of Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. Wood will be overvalued next week, meaning he will miss at least Friday’s game against Miami and Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. . .Tim Hardaway Jr. is listed as likely to play against Miami due to a sprained left ankle, while McKinley
Wright IV is out due to a sprain in his right leg. . The NBA moved Sunday’s game against the Clippers from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. to not coincide with the Dallas Cowboys’ playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. The game between the Cowboys and 49ers starts at 5:30 pm. The Mavs sang “Happy Birthday” to center JaVale McGee after practice on Thursday. McGee turned 35 on Thursday. Asked what they got McGee for his birthday, forward Reggie Bullock replied, “Forty candles. That’s how old he was, yes, 40? Forward Maxi Kleber gets excited when he sees rookie defenseman Jayden Hardy on the court. “He has amazing talent,” Kleber said. “I think you (the media) guys see it all. I think what he has is very special. He finds his way to the basket, he can attack and score, and he always finds a loophole. I think he has a special talent. The most important part for him is just playing time and figuring out how to play the system and understand what the coach wants from him because he has everything. He has a work ethic, he has talent and all that.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice