The Dallas Mavericks anchor, Dirk Nowitzki, left the Oklahoma City Thunder game Monday evening just three minutes into the second quarter in what initially appeared to be a sprained ankle. 

Mavericks PR staff later revealed that Nowitzki had injured his right knee and would undergo tests to gauge the damage.  Nowitzki had an MRI this morning and Mavs' fans can breathe a huge sigh of relief. 

Nowitzki will be out for tonight's home game against the visiting Toronto Raptors but is listed as day-to-day after an MRI revealed no serious damage and sidelining Nowitzki with a sprained right knee.

The Miami Heat did not look like a good ball club following a 106-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center on Saturday night. 

Although the final score was just a difference of 11 points, it wasn't a contest for a majority of the game with the Mavericks ahead by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Mavericks head coach, Rick Carlisle, attributed the Mavs win to his teams energy. 

"We felt by pushing the ball, it wasn't necessarily their game," Carlisle said.  "Getting the game going up and down is something that worked for us tonight." 

Forward Caron Butler has struggled to find an offensive rhythm this season but was unstoppable Saturday night on 60 percent shooting and leading all Mavericks with a season-high 23 points. 

Butler credited his teammates for helping him get through his shooting slump and back on track. 

"The bond is second to none and it's a family atmosphere within the organization, on and off the court," Butler said.  "It's a great environment for us to be successful and when I've struggled shooting, my teammates have just stayed with me and kept encouraging me and it all worked out tonight."

Carlisle had a mission when he was brought in by owner Mark Cuban and that was to make the Mavericks a good defensive team.  And although Dallas showed signs of vast improvement on defense last season, the Mavs have taken it to another level this year as the fourth ranked defense in the NBA. 

The Mavs couldn't have defended the Heat any better than they did in the third quarter, outscoring Miami 31-17 and holding the Heat to just 16 percent shooting from the floor. 

"It was painful to go through a third quarter like that and if guys feel that pain, good," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after the game.

The most important statistic of tonight's win for the Mavericks was the fact that Dirk Nowitzki didn't have to carry the offense like he's had to on previous nights.

Dallas had six players score in double-digits to Miami's three and the Mavs bench outscored the Heat's 39-22.  Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade each scored 22 points on 50 percent shooting, but LeBron James was just 5-of-19 from the floor for 23 points. 

The Mavericks are on a five-game win-streak, including a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and a San Antonio Spurs team that had won 12 in a row before losing to Dallas. 

"Great team effort," Nowitzki siad.  "Our defense was solid again, that's what won us the game.  If you would have told me before that we would have gone 4-0 this week, I don't know if I would have believed it." 

While things are going fantastic in Dallas, the Heat dropped to an overall record of 9-8 and held a 45-minute "players-only" meeting after the loss to Dallas.

"It was a well-needed team meeting where everybody got an opportunity to get off what they had on their chest or what they had in their head," LeBron James said.  "We had some deep things to say to one another.  We needed it." 

With as much talent as the Heat have on their roster, it's fair to say Miami hasn't lived up to expectations.

"I never put anything on a coach, win, lose or draw because they can give us the game-plan but they're not on the court playing," Wade said.  "It's time to take ownership and this is our team."  

Spoelstra took unusually long before coming out to address the media following Saturday night's loss but seemed optimistic that the Heat would be able to turn things around. 

"We're 17 games in.  We will figure this out," Spoelstra said.  "The fact that guys are upset about this, that is a sign to start a change."

Hopefully, for Spoelstra's sake, the change Miami needs to make is somewhere other than at the head coaching position.

The Mavericks offense has been a cause for concern as of late.  Luckily for Dallas, the struggle to find consistency on the scoring end hasn't necessarily translated into losses but the Mavericks know that as phenomenal of a player as Dirk Nowitzki is, the big man needs some help. 

Nowitzki received plenty of help Wednesday evening against the Oklahoma City Thunder with five Mavericks scoring in double digits, enabling Dirk to torch the Thunder for 34 points on 60 percent shooting, adding 14-of-15 from the line. 

Caron Butler has struggled to find his stroke throughout the first 13 games of the season but took the initiative early against the Thunder, racking up six  quick points to jump-start the Mavericks' offense.  Although Butler saw his minutes disappear in the second half, his enthusiastic toughness spread throughout the rest of the team. 

"We're just feeding off each other," Mavs swingman Shawn Marion said, who put up 12 points of his own and all but shut down superstar Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter. 

Dallas' 13-6 run at the end of the first half brought the Mavericks to within one, down 55-56 going into the break.  However, the momentum the Mavericks built in the first half wasn't carried over as Dallas went scoreless for nearly six minutes to start the third quarter.  But even with the inability to score in the third, the Mavericks scrappy defense kept them within striking distance. 

"The third quarter, we could have just easily folded," veteran point guard Jason Kidd said.  "But we have a lot of pride."

The toughness the Mavericks might have lost with Butler on the bench was replaced by Tyson Chandler who had a season-high in points and rebounds, recording 17 points and 18 rebounds.  Chandler was also 7-of-8 from the line, something Mavericks' fans aren't used to seeing from its' centers. 

"Every night I try to focus on bringing energy, being real active, setting good screens and defending the rim," Chandler said.  "Tonight, we stood together and were able to get the victory away from home." 

Nowitzki was harassed by a slew of defenders in the fourth quarter but managed to somehow, someway make greatly contested shots and get to the foul line. 

"What always helps in this league is making big shots," Nowitzki said.  "And we got hot at the right time." 

Nowitzki couldn't have put it any better as he scored seven points in less than a minute, part of a 10-0 run in the final minutes of Wednesday nights win.

There was something missing in the matchup against Oklahoma City but it was the reason Dallas came away with the victory.  There were no bystanders on the court watching Nowitzki carry the team on his back.  The Mavericks were hungry for a win and would settle for nothing less against one of the most talented teams in the league. 

Whether it was Nowitzki, Chandler or Marion, someone always managed to come up with a big play. 

"The thing that I like about this team is that it's the tightest-knit team that we've had since I've been here," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.  "These guys are really close.  They never quit on a game, they never quit on a situation.  They keep encouraging each other, and we just look for good things to happen." 

The Mavericks will have Thanksgiving night off but it will be a quick turnaround against a San Antonio Spurs (13-1) team with the best record in the NBA.  With all of the media attention diverted towards the Miami Heat's struggles, San Antonio has managed to slip under the radar, going on a 12-game win-streak and not suffering a single loss in the month since October. 

Friday night marks the first of four meetings between the Mavericks and Spurs since a stunning first round defeat last season in the playoffs.  San Antonio is going to be a handful for the the Mavericks as the Spurs are ranked second in the league in scoring, averaging 108 points-per-game. 

San Antonio will be the final stop in a tough two-game road trip before welcoming LeBron James and the Miami Heat to Dallas on Saturday evening.