Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said forward Dirk Nowitzki will miss Thursday nightâ€™s game against the Spurs, according to multiple reports on Twitter. It will be the second straight game Nowitzki will sit out after inuring his knee Sunday against Oklahoma City.

â€œHeâ€™s doing better, but not in a position to put him back out there yet," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters at today's shootaround. "Heâ€™s out and Iâ€™m not going to go into it any more than that, because I am not a doctor. Itâ€™s not time for him to go back out there yet. Heâ€™s doing better each day, but heâ€™s not ready.â€

Tonightâ€™s tilt in Dallas is about as big as midseason NBA game gets, as it pits the top two teams in the Western Conference. The Spurs, in fact, have the best record in the NBA at 27-4, and the Mavs are tied with Boston for the second-best record in the league at 24-6.

Nowitzki leads Dallas with 24.1 points per game and is second on the team in rebounds at 7.4 per game. One of the Mavericksâ€™ six losses this season came at home against Toronto on Monday, the day after Nowitzki hurt his knee.

Nowitzki's availability for this weekend's games against Milwaukee and Cleveland also is in question.