MINNEAPOLIS -- On this frigid Friday in the Twin Cities, following the Mavericks' morning shootaround, Rick Carlisle and Dirk Nowitzki had a heart-to-heart that would have been difficult for most coaches and most NBA stars.

The topic: A significant change in the way Nowitzki will and won't be utilized, including games in which he will play in only one half or not at all.

This development will jolt many Mavericks fans. And it would test most coach-player marriages, but this is Carlisle and Nowitzki. They've been together 11 years. They won an NBA championship together.

"We talked about it and handled it like grown men," Nowitzki told The News. "Just keeping open communication. No hurt feelings. Just play it by ear and see how the games are going, see how the flow is going."

Nowitzki had four rebounds in 13 scoreless minutes as the Mavericks pulled out a 119-115 victory over Minnesota on Friday night, behind Luka Doncic's 29 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and go-ahead 3-pointer with 22 seconds left.

Not coincidentally, Friday's game began the second half of the Mavericks' season. They were 19-22 at the midpoint, a six-victory improvement from last season, but were tied for 13th in the competitive Western Conference.

There was much anticipation surrounding 40-year-old Nowitzki's NBA record-tying 21st season and solo league mark for playing the most seasons for only one franchise.

Nowitzki, however, missed the season's first 26 games while recovering from left ankle surgery. He has appeared in 12 games, averaging 3.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 10.3 minutes per outing.

"He's got the same goal that all of us have," Carlisle told The News. "He wants to help the team. He also wants to win.

"As he's making the climb from being out to working his way back into this thing, we've got to keep talking about what's best for both."

The Mavericks started 2-7 this season, but they rebounded and had climbed to 15-11 when Nowitzki made his debut on Dec. 13.

Nowitzki had been a starter since midway through his rookie season of 1998-99, so he and Carlisle knew there would be a significant adjustment with Nowitzki coming off the bench for spot minutes.

Dallas lost its first six games after Nowitzki's return, but, to be fair, five of those were on the road, where the Mavericks are 4-18 after Friday's victory.

"Obviously he's made great progress, which is great, and I see him getting better week-to-week," Carlisle said. "Better conditioning. Better rhythm.

"But we've got situations in the league now where the matchups, some nights, are really, really difficult. We had a good talk today about just keeping a very open line of communication.

"There may be some games he doesn't play because of matchups that just don't look good. There may be instances where he plays in the first half but not in the second half if things aren't looking favorable for the second half."

Against the Timberwolves on Friday, Nowitzki played seven minutes in the first half and six in the second. He finished 0-4 from the field, all of them 3-point attempts. He has made 1 of his last 17 shot attempts, but Carlisle said he was encouraged by Nowitzki's improved movement against Minnesota.

"I had some good looks," Nowitzki said. "In the first half I didn't really have the touch. I thought those in the second half really had a great chance of going in.

"You go through ups and downs with your shooting stroke. There was like a week or two where I felt great and I was shooting the ball really well. Now I've just got to keep tweaking stuff on the off days and step into my shots. I'll be working out [Saturday]. My team obviously needs me, if I'm open, to step into those and I'll continue to do that."

Second-year forward Maxi Kleber, who like Nowitzki hails from Wurzburg, Germany, has been an impressive find by the Mavericks franchise and fans have clamored for him to get more playing time.

Kleber earned his fifth start on Friday, alongside fellow front-court players DeAndre Jordan and Harrison Barnes, against Minnesota's rugged and athletic frontcourt of Karl-Anthony Towns, Taj Gibson and Andrew Wiggins.

Before the game, fans certainly understood that this likely is @swish41’s last game at Target Center, and he returned their appreciation by signing autographs. pic.twitter.com/5okvRvT3Ax — Brad Townsend (@townbrad) January 12, 2019

Nowitzki hasn't said whether he will return for a 22nd season, but all signs have pointed to this being his final season, making Friday night likely his final Target Center visit. Towns paid homage to Nowitzki before the game.

"He's given the bigs a standard of shooting, being who he was as a shooter and as an offensive player," Town said. "It gave us tall guys a lot of opportunity to really show that we could do much more than just have our back to the basket.

"And him just willing the Mavericks to a championship is something that's special. We all, as big guys, try to match what he's done in the league. His impact on the culture, his impact on the league, his impact on winning, we're all trying to match that."

Carlisle certainly didn't rule out Nowitzki carving out a larger role as the season progresses and his stamina and rhythm improve. He knows better than anyone not to bet against Nowitzki.

"I've never seen an athlete work as hard as he's worked in the last seven months to get back on the floor," Carlisle said. "I watched his weight-lifting and functional-strength training session two days ago and I was absolutely in awe of what he was doing.

"He was doing one-legged hops the full length of the court, with a look of determination that would be hard to describe. He's staying really upbeat, really optimistic, as am I.

"The last 41 games we're looking to continue to cycle him up, but if there's situations that aren't good for him, that aren't good for the team, we're going to bypass it. That's the right thing for everybody."

And Nowitzki made it clear that he has no qualms with Carlisle's decision.

"We're just really going to play it by ear, see how it's going, see how each game's going," he said. "There might be some nights when I play more; there might be some nights when I play less."

Throughout his career, Nowitzki has used the same rigorous pregame warmup that he and his mentor, Holger Geschwindner, devised when Dirk was a teenager.

When the decision was made for Nowitzki to come off the bench this season, there was concern that the long period between pregame workout and his late first-quarter entry would be make for a difficult transition.

"It's been OK," Nowitzki said. "It actually gives me some time. I do stuff in the back [of the locker room] with our strength coaches. During timeouts you've probably seen me running some and doing some exercises. It's been OK, not as bad as I expected it to be."

The second halves of games have been another matter. Carlisle said the franchise has kept tabs on the elapsed time between when Nowitzki typically exits midway through the second quarter and when he usually re-enters late in the third period.

The average time, Carlisle said, has been 54-to-55 minutes.

"It's an awful long time for a guy who has gotten cranked up to then sit and be stagnant," Carlisle said. "So that's another reason that we've got to gauge all of this stuff and see what's best for him and what's best for the team.

"Because this is a very difficult set of circumstances on the one hand, but on the other hand he is making phenomenal progress and we're all staying upbeat about where he's going to get with this."

No, it's not an ideal scenario for what probably is Nowitzki's last season. When he bypassed last season's final four games to have left ankle surgery, the goal was to jump-start his rehab and preparation for season No. 21.

Mother Nature and Father Time didn't cooperate.

"The realities are this: You've got a top 10 or 12 player in the history of the game who now, coming off a surgery and a seven-month rehab, is coming off the bench for the first time in two decades," Carlisle said. "I don't know if there's been a bigger challenge for an all-time great player in the history of our game."

Likewise, Carlisle is challenged to make the most of what probably will be Nowitzki's last season while also trying to coach the Mavericks into the playoff picture.

"I'm not worried about me," Carlisle said. "Look, for him, I'd take a magazine of machine-gun bullets, OK? I would.

"But there's a way to get from where we were in mid-December when he came back to where he's going to get where he's feeling a hell of a lot better than he's feeling right now. And we've got to talk through it. And he's got to continue to work and be upbeat about it.

"That's where we are."

Twitter: @townbrad