While flourishing in pickup games, Green eager to play in real ones

LOS ANGELES – It was only a pickup game after Wednesday’s practice on the campus of the University of Southern California.

But there was Josh Green, ripping and running and flying up and down the court like he didn’t have a care in the world. The Dallas Mavericks’ third-year guard was attacking the basket and soaring through the sky – just like the old Josh Green.

However, the underlying problem is, Green – he sprained his right elbow Dec. 9 against the Milwaukee Bucks — hasn’t been cleared by the Mavs’ medical staff to play in an NBA game yet.

“I’ve been doing the same things for a week or two now, so I’ll continue to do that stuff and when the time is right, it’ll be right,” Green told Mavs.com. “I’m just continuing to play pickup games and get ready to be in game shape.

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

It has been a painful lesson for Green, who had a spot in the Mavs’ rotation this season after spending most of his first two seasons mainly as a spectator. This year Green was flourishing off the bench as the Mavs’ main energy player who was playing heads-up defense, diving for loose balls and knocking down his share of jumpers.

Green scored a career-high 23 points in the Nov. 30 game against the Denver Nuggets. In that game he converted 8-of-9 shots, including 6-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc.

In addition, Green made 6-of-7 shots and scored 16 points during the Dec. 5 contest against the Phoenix Suns. Two games later, Green was writhing in pain following the injury against the Bucks.

Meanwhile, Green isn’t sure when he’ll be able to join his teammates for a game. For now, everything is fluid.

“That’s just the call from the medical staff,” Green said. “I’m just working out and doing what I can. There’s no set date for anything. When I’m ready, I’ll be ready.”

Actually, in Green’s mind, he’s already ready. He’s watched the Mavs carve out a 10-7 record since he went down, which includes losses to Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers in the opening two games of this five-game trip, and he wants to get in a game and do his part to help stem the tide.

“It’s definitely tough, because you just want to be out there, for sure,” he said. “After about that third game of sitting you kind of get the itch to be back out there.

“But like I said, it’s making sure you can come back at the right time when you’re ready to go.”

Mavs coach Jason Kidd has watched the progress Green has made since his injury. And he’s seen those pickup games where Green has looked polished.

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

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

“When you talk about the defensive end, when he gets back it’s just a matter of getting his rhythm. But just being able to get him back on the floor, he can give us some help.”

Green said there are no restrictions placed on him on what he can or can’t do, and there is no pain shooting down his elbow whenever he shoots the ball.

“It’s not so much shooting,” Green said. “It’s other types of movement. My shooting feels good.

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

Still, Green is aware that he has to exercise some patience.

“That’s probably the hardest part for me,” he said. “I just want to be out on the court.

“But I’m doing the right things and making sure that it’s the right time to come back. It’s just a matter of time.”

JAMES ABOUT TO PASS ABDUL-JABBAR: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James is on the verge of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Abdul-Jabbar finished his stellar career with 38,387 points, while James has 37,965. Meanwhile, coach Jason Kidd gave James his flowers after Wednesday’s practice session at USC.

“He’s going to go down as the greatest to ever play the game,” Kidd said. “He’s always delivered. He’s won multiple championships.

“He’ll break a record that a lot of people didn’t think would be broken – the scoring title. It’s pretty cool.”

Kidd played against James from 2003-13, coached against (and with) him since then, won an Olympic gold medal with him in 2008, and was an assistant coach for the Lakers when he and James won the NBA title in 2020.

“To play against him, to play with him and to coach him, he’s delivered on each decade, I guess you could say,” Kidd said.

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

“(The ‘08 (Olympics) was great,” Kidd said. (James) doesn’t like ’11. I love ’11. We both love ’08. We’ve had a lot of battles. He’s won a lot of battles.”

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

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

“I think he probably over-delivered in a sense that no one has never done it this long at a high level of what he’s done.”

So how did the Mavs overcome extremely heavy odds and take down James and the Heat to win the ’11 title?

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

“But also we had (Dirk Nowitzki). But we had a bunch of good role players who played their role at a very high level. And Rick (Carlisle) was a great coach who helped us achieve that.”

Kidd said he’s not surprised James – he’s averaging 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.7 assists this season — is still putting up big numbers at the age of 38.

“He takes care of himself,” Kidd said. “Physically and mentally he’s always conditioned himself, so he’ll go out when he goes out. He might be one of the few who can beat Father Time.”

BRIEFLY: Dwight Powell (right hip contusion) is questionable for Thursday’s game against the Lakers, while Dorian Finney-Smith (right adductor strain), Josh Green (right elbow sprain) and Maxi Kleber (right hamstring tear) will all miss that game. Powell was injured in the first half of Tuesday’s 113-101 loss to the LA Clippers. “(Dwight) did a little (in practice Wednesday), but not much on the floor,” coach Jason Kidd said. On Finney-Smith, Kidd said: “He did some running (Wednesday). He looked good. He’s going in the right direction. All good stuff so far for those guys who are hurt.”. . . Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel attended Wednesday’s practice. Vogel coached the Lakers to a championship in 2020 inside the bubble in suburban Orlando. Kidd was an assistant on Vogel’s staff from 2019-21. . .Kidd said it’s important for the Mavs to take advantage when teams send two defenders at Luka Doncic, because it appears as though that’s a blueprint opposing coaches have been using when they play the Mavs. The Clippers used that strategy in Tuesday’s game. “We’ve seen it all year and we’re going to see it the rest of the year,” Kidd said. “We just have to improve on the four-on-three and our spacing and give him outlets. I think in the first half we weren’t good at it. In the second half we were better.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice