Mavs' Maxi Kleber Details Injury Recovery, Looks Ahead to Building Continuity

Kleber admitted the toe injury he dealt with initially happened against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 1, but he tried to play through it. He returned to the lineup against the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 8 before reaggravating it — requiring him to be sidelined for an extended period, causing an injury absence spanning over two months. 

"During the first game it happened, I don't remember the exact date against Chicago. And then we took some time off because it happened in the same game again," Kleber said. "We took a week off, treated it, and everything was fine. Then we taped it and tried to stabilize it, and that game happened in the second half again, so the first half was all good. We took the risk of seeing if it should stay stable, and it didn't. 

"We knew it needed time to heal and become stable again," Kleber explained. "And so that's why we had to take the time, unfortunately."

Kleber, who experienced a lengthy injury recovery process due to a torn hamstring last season, shared insight into the daily process when sidelined. He highlighted the importance of staying mentally in shape by studying game film and staying focused, even when working physically isn't possible. 

"You watch a lot of film [and] try to focus, stay mentally at least in shape if you can't do it physically," Kleber said. "The hard thing is to come back and just like find the conditioning and rhythm and everything in practice, but in the game. Overall, I think we did a great job with the rehab, getting me physically ready to step back out there."

Kleber was one of many Mavs players to deal with an injury, causing them to miss multiple games over the past few months. After having four full days between their Thursday loss against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team will be without only Dante Exum and Seth Curry during Monday's game against the Celtics. The team is looking forward to being able to build continuity together. 

"It's very exciting, but at the same time, we got to stay humble," Kleber said. "Just because everybody's back doesn't mean everything will go right. We still have to focus on our work. Everybody has to focus on their role and what they must do, but the potential is there, especially with Kai and Luka on the offensive end running the show. Everybody else must know what we must do and especially get on the defense end a little bit better."

Before practicing on Friday due to an unforeseen time off caused by the postponement of their matchup against the Golden State Warriors, the Mavs hadn't practiced since Dec. 21. With multiple days to practice, Dallas has been able to focus on details that otherwise may have been overlooked within the flow of playing essentially every other day at least for an extended period. 

"Just going back to the basics and then getting that back into the game when you don't get the time for that, especially with a lot of guys out that we had out," Kleber said. "It's tough to just go back and implement the basics again that we didn't have time for."

Achieving greater results defensively while establishing a consistent level of play on that end is a focus Kleber stressed for the team as a whole. He emphasized the need for consistent energy and to sharpen the communication after the team experienced slippage against the Lakers. 

"One thing is like overall energy. Everybody individually takes pride in making the right plays, and the other is just communicating better," Kleber said. "Especially in the last game, a lot of miscommunications can't happen, like in basic rotation and stuff like that. That's what we've got to clean up and stay consistent with it. And then also, you've been back for three games."

Kleber's return has given the Mavs a needed boost in size, whether he's played alongside Dereck Lively II at the four or has been the small ball five throughout games in plug-and-play lineups. The next step will be for him to find a rhythm offensively amid a season averaging 3.6 points, shooting 32.0 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from beyond the arc through eight games played.