Shooting guard Monta Ellis' streak of 237 consecutive games played appears to have ended, but the Dallas Mavericks do not believe the right calf injury their leading scorer suffered in Friday night’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs is serious.

The Mavs do not anticipate Ellis being available for Sunday’s road games against the Indiana Pacers.

“He’s on crutches, which is never good,” coach Rick Carlisle told reporters Saturday morning in San Antonio. “So he appears to be very doubtful for tomorrow. We don’t think it’s serious. But we are concerned.”

Ellis has played in 237 consecutive games, a streak that dates to the 2012-13 season opener. He has played through several injuries during his two-year tenure in Dallas, including a strained left hip suffered two games before the All-Star break that bothered him for weeks.

While Ellis has insisted on playing through injuries in the past, Carlisle said the Mavs would make sure that he exercises caution in this instance with the playoffs a few weeks away.

“We’re not going to do anything foolish in terms of rushing him back until he’s absolutely ready,” Carlisle said. “I trust [athletic trainer] Casey Smith and I trust Monta too to be reasonable about this. He knows how important he is to us. We can’t take a foolish risk at this point.”

There is a possibility that guard J.J. Barea, a candidate to fill in for Ellis in the starting lineup, could play against the Pacers after missing the previous three games with a sprained left ankle. Barea is traveling with the team on this trip.

“J.J.’s doing better,” Carlisle said. “We’ll have a better idea where things are at after practice. But he’s been steadily improving. We’ll see where we are.”

Carlisle emphasized, however, that one player can’t replace Ellis, who averages 19.1 points per game and also leads the Mavs in minutes (33.7).

“We’re going to have to make up for his loss collectively,” Carlisle said. “You don’t lose your best offensive player and have one guy who can step up and make the difference. The whole group’s got to step forward. So, you know, we got our work cut out for us.

“We’re hoping Mother Nature will be kind to us.”