Before Tuesday’s visit to Miami, Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle said Maxi Kleber has fought through an unlucky season.

And, speaking strictly from a medical point of view, he’s right.

Kleber was out against the Heat and “likely the next two or three games,” Carlisle said, to take some stress off of an achy right Achilles and ankle.

The 6-10 forward/center has missed 17 of 65 games this season after playing 74 of 75 last year.

However, when you examine Kleber’s production, it’s hard to say that this has been anything but a successful season. He’s hitting a career-best 41.5 percent from 3-point range and 91.9 percent from the free-throw line.

His scoring is down slightly, but his overall efficiency is up.

And, of course, he’s always solid defensively.

With all that, it’s no wonder that his absence has a major impact on the Mavericks.

The Mavericks are just 7-10 in games Kleber has missed, including the 127-113 win they had Tuesday over Miami.

“Maxi’s just had an unlucky year,” Carlisle said. “He’s hit the ground a bunch of times. He’s turned his ankle three or four times this season. A couple times it’s happened when the whistle’s already blown and he steps on somebody’s foot.

“This Achilles thing is something he’s been dealing with for a while. It may have been a lower leg thing or ankle – it’s really semantics. To the extent that the ankle and Achilles are related? I don’t know. I’m not speculating on that. It’s just been a lot.”

Including what Carlisle called “a bit more of a severe case of COVID” back in January. That knocked Kleber out for 11 games.

And with the playoffs barely two weeks away, clearly the Mavericks want to make sure they get Kleber as healthy as possible before then.

“We’re going to take a little time here,” Carlisle said. “It’s possible he could play on Thursday, but I would say it’s unlikely.”

Porzingis update: Kristaps Porzingis missed his third consecutive game with right knee soreness.

“KP has continued to make progress since leaving the Detroit game (last week),” Carlisle said. “I don’t know what his timetable is exactly. He could play the next game. It’s probably going to be on a game-by-game basis to see where he is.”

Porzingis has averaged 20.2 points and 9.1 rebounds, but has played only 40 of 65 games.

In praise of Butler: The Heat was without Jimmy Butler, their leading scorer at 21.5 points per game. He came down ill Tuesday afternoon, but coach Erik Spoelstra stressed that it was not COVID-19 related.

Butler also is averaging over seven rebounds and seven assists per game and is playing his usual sticky defense.

That’s why Spoelstra took time Tuesday to address why Butler doesn’t get mentioned as a fringe MVP candidate?

Mostly, it’s because of the Heat’s middling 35-30 record, Spoelstra said.

“All the individual recognition, I think we were overlooked from the first half of our season when we had a lot of our guys out and we weren’t performing at the level that was expected,” Spoelstra said. “I think if we had a full year of health and everything, Jimmy Butler, in my mind, has to be in that conversation for MVP.

“I think his game is just continuing to grow as a winner, a throwback player, a guy that really impacts the game on both ends of the court.”

The frontrunners for the award are Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, with others like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić and Washington’s Russell Westbrook also in the mix.

Briefly: Dončić was nosed out for Western Conference player of the month by Golden State’s Steph Curry. Could have gone either way. Both had fantastic months. Dončić averaged 28.2 points, 8.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds. Curry averaged 37.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists. The Mavericks went 10-6. The Warriors were 8-8 . . . The Heat were in a very similar situation as the Mavericks coming into Tuesday’s game – trying to win as much as they can to avoid the play-in tournament. “Players are aware of standings and all the machinations going on there,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to stay process-oriented and do the things that bring us success.”

Twitter: @ESefko

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