Dirk Nowitzki has missed one game this season, and it was a forgettable one for the Dallas Mavericks.

They were hammered by Houston when Nowitzki was benched by an NBA suspension on March 6.

Now the Mavericks are staring a lot more than just one game without their best player. The schedule, despite two games upcoming against the Los Angeles Clippers – including tonight's – is demanding. Five of the next seven games are on the road against playoff contenders.

So what do the Mavericks do without Dirk?

"We've just got to play hard as hell – every day, every game," forward Brandon Bass said. "It's got to be a team thing. No individual is going to replace him."

Bass is one of the options coach Avery Johnson has. Bass could replace Nowitzki at power forward in the starting lineup. Malik Allen also is an option.

The Mavericks could go small, with Josh Howard sliding over to power forward and Devean George, Eddie Jones or even Jason Terry filling out the starting lineup.

Jason Kidd now becomes even more of a focal point for the Mavericks than he has been since he was acquired in a Feb. 19 trade. The Mavericks are 9-8 since, and they still haven't beaten a winning team since Kidd's arrival.

"Without Dirk, we're going to have to make the extra pass and do the little things –box out, not foul as much, don't put teams in the bonus," Kidd said.

"The beauty of this is nobody's really talking about us. We have to put up wins without him."

Offensive offense: The Mavericks know where their biggest problem is. They just aren't exactly sure how to fix it.

"We've got to score," Kidd said. "And we've got to get more shots up. If you were to ask anybody if we were going to hold Boston and San Antonio to under 35 percent [shooting], we'd have a pretty good chance to win that game."

Johnson said the Mavericks don't want to change a thing about their defense. If there's any concern about players pressing to make up for Nowitzki's absence, it shouldn't have any impact on the defensive end.

Tough session: Johnson said the first practice without Nowitzki was one of the best workouts the team has had of late in at least one respect.

"This was probably one of our most physical practices in the last two to three weeks," he said.

Some possible rotations for the Mavericks during Dirk Nowitzki's absence:

New starter: Brandon Bass

What it does: Gives the Mavericks a more traditional power forward who spends most of his time in the paint and can make 15-foot jumpers

New starter: Malik Allen

What it does: Gives them a big man who can make longer shots, stretching opposing defenses and creating gaps for Josh Howard and Jason Terry

New starter: Devean George, Eddie Jones or Antoine Wright

What it does: Makes them better defensively, assuming George or Josh Howard can guard opposing power forwards

New starter: Jason Terry

What it does: Gives the offense its best chance to start percolating again, as Terry and Jerry Stackhouse spread the defense better than any other healthy combination they have