DeSagana

Diop

If so, he would probably start the year on the injured list, leaving Scott Williams as Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ backup.

“Diop just needs rest on that thing,” coach Paul Silas said of the sprain. “His finger will almost have to be healed completely until he comes back. You can’t help but get it hit [when playing]. His injury may be longer... but I’m not sure.”

Diop is day-to-day with a sprained right ankle.

The Knicks worked him out yesterday in Westchester, but he won’t have fantasy value this season regardless of where he ends up.

He’ll back up Erick Dampier, replacing Shawn Bradley (retired) in that role. Diop is young and has potential, so he could end up being an important signing down the road for the Mavs. But he won’t do much this year. Avery Johnson may argue with us on that point. ''We feel DeSagana is a mobile center,’' he said. ''He’s in great shape right now. He’s been in the league for four years, and we think he’s ready to just take off.’'

Diop made his only field goal attempt of the Finals in the second quarter of Thursdsay’s game. “Our [centers], when they get the ball, they have got to finish strong for us,” coach Avery Johnson said. “Because there are times when they are out there that they are not guarding them.”

Diop had four points and 11 boards in Game 2, and is having an impact for the Mavericks, who are doing a good job of slowing down the run-and-gun Suns. As a side note, the team who wins Game 3 in seven-game series’ wins 75% of the time. The Suns are now down 2-1 after losing Game 3 at home.

He hit 3-of-3 shots from the floor as well as a key free thrown down the stretch in overtime. He also played great defense on Tim Duncan late in the game, as the Mavericks got a nice effort from the whole team tonight.

The injury came courtesy of a Tim Duncan elbow in the fourth quarter, but Diop played through it and received high praise for the defense he played on Duncan. He may not play as big a role against the smaller Suns, but the return of Kurt Thomas for Phoenix could change that.

It’s hard to say if it was due to matchups or if his broken nose was too sore for him to play. For matchup reasons, he may not see too much action in this series.