Thriving in pickup trucks, Green strives to play real games.

LOS ANGELES – It was just a post-workout game on Wednesday at the Southern University campus.Green California.

But there was Josh Green, thrashing and running and flying up and down the court like he didn’t care about the world. The Dallas Mavericks third-year quarterback attacked the basket and hovered in the sky just like the old Josh Green.

However, the main problem is that Green – who sprained his right elbow during a Dec. 9 game against the Milwaukee Bucks – has not yet been cleared by Mavs medical staff to play in an NBA game.

“I’ve been doing the same thing for a week or two now, so I’ll keep doing the same thing and when the time comes it’ll be right,” Greene told Mavs.com. “I just keep playing pickups and getting ready to be in game shape.

“It’s what it is, but I’m growing and learning from it.”

It was a painful lesson for Green, who fell right into the middle of the Mavs rotation this season, having spent most of his first two seasons mostly as a spectator. This year, Green has thrived on the bench as the Mavs’ main energy player, who played one-on-one defense, dived for lost balls and knocked down a lot of shots.

GreenGreen scored a season-high 23 points in a November 30 game against the Denver Nuggets. In that game, he made 8 of 9 shots, including 6 of 7 from three-point arc.

In addition, Green made 6 of 7 shots and scored 16 points during a December 5 game against the Phoenix Suns. Two games later, Green was writhing in pain from an injury against the Bucks.

Meanwhile, Green is not sure when he will be able to join his teammates for the game. Everything is liquid at the moment.

“This is just a call from the medical staff,” Greene said. “I just train and do my best. There is no set date for anything. When I’m ready, I’ll be ready.”

In fact, according to Green, he is ready. He’s watched the Mavs go 10-7 since he lost, including losses to Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers in the first two games of this five-game road trip, and he wants to take participate in the game and do part of it to help stop the flow.

In other words, Green does not recommend looking from a bench in street clothes.

“It’s definitely difficult because you just want to be there, for sure,” he said. “After about the third game in a sitting position, you kind of have an itch to get back there.

“But like I said, it’s a guarantee that you can get back at the right time when you’re ready to go.”

Mavs coach Jason Kidd oversaw Green’s progress after the injury. And he saw those pickups where GreenJosh Green driving. looked polished.

But he also knows that Green has already been ruled out of Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, which kicks off at the Crypto.com Arena at 7 p.m. and airs nationally on TNT.

“He looks great,” Kidd said. “I think we’re just talking about another body.

“When you talk about defense, when he comes back, it’s just a matter of his rhythm. But just by being able to get him back on the floor, he might be of some help to us.”

Green said there are no restrictions placed on him as to what he can or cannot do, and there is no pain shooting through his elbow whenever he throws the ball.

“It’s not so much shooting,” Greene said. “These are different types of movement. My shooting feels good.

Green“I feel confident in my shot. My goal is to pick up where I left off and come back and win games.”

However, Green realizes that he needs to show some patience.

“This is probably the hardest part for me,” he said. “I just want to get on the court.

“But I do the right thing and make sure I get back at the right time. It is the matter of time.”

JAMES OBSERVES ABDUL-JABBAR: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is on the verge of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Abdul-Jabbar ended his stellar career with 38,387 points while James had 37,965. Meanwhile, coach Jason Kidd gave James flowers after Wednesday’s practice at USC.LeBron and Luca.

“He will go down in history as the greatest player ever to play this game,” Kidd said. “He is always delivered. He won several championships.

“He will break a record that many did not think that he would be beaten – the title of goalscorer. It’s pretty cool.”

Kidd played against James from 2003 to 2013, coached him from 2013 to present, won an Olympic gold medal with him in the 2008 games in Beijing, China, and was an assistant coach with the Lakers when he and James won the NBA . title in 2020.

“Playing against him, playing with him and coaching him, I think you could say he’s done that every decade,” Kidd said.

LeBron Kidd also said that one of his most memorable moments with James was in 2011 when a heavily underdog Mavs defeated Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, James and the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA championship.

“The (Olympics) ’08 was great,” Kidd said. (James) doesn’t like the 11th. I love the 11th. We both love 2008. We had many battles. battles.”

In Kidd’s eyes, James wrote a book on how to prepare for every game.

“Only his competitiveness and IQ and what he’s done since the first day he was drafted (in 2003) and all the hype around him, he never stopped working,” Kidd said. “He delivered.

“I think he probably overdid it in the sense that no one has ever done it for as long at such a high level as he did.”

So how did the Mavs overcome extremely difficult odds and beat James and the Heat to win the title 11th?Dwight

“We just caught them at the right time,” Kidd said. “It was their first year together, so we were lucky.

“But we also had (Dirk Nowitzki). But we had a bunch of good role players who played their part at a very high level. And Rick[Carlisle]was a great coach to help us get there.”

Kidd said he’s not surprised by James – he’s averaging 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists this season – at 38, he’s still putting in big numbers.

“He takes care of himself,” Kidd said. “Physically and mentally, he is always in tune, so he will go out when he comes out. He may be one of the few who can defeat Father Time.”

SHORT: Dwight Powell (right hip bruise) is in question against the Lakers on Thursday, while Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor sprain), Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear) miss this game. Powell is injured DorianTuesday’s first half lost 113-101 to the Los Angeles Clippers. “(Dwight) did a little (in training on Wednesday), but not much on the floor,” said coach Jason Kidd. Of Finney-Smith, Kidd said: “He ran a bit (Wednesday). He looked good. He’s going in the right direction. So far so good for the guys who got hurt.” Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel attended practice on Wednesday. Fogel coached the Lakers to a 2020 championship in a bubble in suburban Orlando. Kidd was an assistant on Vogel’s staff from 2019-21. . Kidd said it’s important for the Mavs to capitalize on every situation where teams send two defensemen to Luka Doncic because it looks like opposing coaches use this plan when they play the Mavs. The Clippers used this strategy on Tuesday. So did the Lakers when they lost 124–115 to the Mavs in Dallas on Christmas Day. “We’ve seen it all year and we’re going to see it before the end of the year,” Kidd said. “We just need to improve the four-on-three formation and our distance, and also give him an outlet. I think we didn’t succeed in the first half. We were better in the second half.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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