In the fourth quarter of Game 1, Dirk Nowitzki made a clean strip of Chris Bosh as he was driving toward the basket, but he got called for the makeup foul after a bad whistle on the other end.
To add to the problems, Nowitzki tore a tendon in his left index finger on the play.
This is his non-shooting hand and he will wear a splint on it, he said. An X-ray came back negative.
Nowitzki didn’t sound too concerned after the game, as reported by Royce Young at CBSSports Eye On Basketball.“Well it was just a freaky play, “Nowitzki said. “Bosh got a bounce pass and I stepped in. I thought I stripped him clean and then I kind of looked down and I couldn’t straighten my finger out anymore.
“I guess it will be all right. I have to wear a split probably for the rest of the playoffs, for a couple of weeks. But it will be all right. It’s on my left hand, so I’ll be all right for Thursday.”We’ll have to see if this impacts his ball handling, passing and other parts of his game. And while this is his non-shooting hand, it may well impact his shot also (or at least force him to adjust). Dallas cannot have him be just average this series, so any finger injury is of concern.