According to ESPN Dallas' Jean-Jacques Taylor, Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is going to rotate guard Delonte West into the game on Thursday night against the Miami Heat. The backup point guard has not played in a game since he broke a finger on his non-shooting hand on Feb. 15 against the Denver Nuggets.
West had his fingers taped together and had them covered in gauze. However, he still knows that if they're hit, it's going to hurt.
"It's a mental thing," he said. "I just have to fight through it. I use my hands a lot to knock the ball loose and trying to get steals. It's just something I'm going to have to deal with."
Carlisle is happy to have West back. He couldn't say, however, how much West would play or if he would even play well when given the opportunity to get back on the court.
"We're going to get him back into it the right way, so I'm not sure how much he'll play, but we're going to try to get him into the game," Carlisle said of West. "There's going to be some apprehension and he's going to have some stingers because the doctors says the hand is going to be swollen some for another four-five months."
Before his injury, West was averaging 8.3 points and 3.5 assists per game and played an average of 22 minutes. He was also playing great defense, which could come in handy for the Mavericks against the high-scoring Heat.
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