Josh Howard is going back on the inactive list indefinitely, coach Rick Carlisle said after the Mavericks' shootaround this morning.

The Mavericks made the decision to give Howard more time to recover from his off-season left ankle surgery after he had difficulty in the second of back-to-back games earlier this week.

Howard did not re-injure the ankle. But he was limping on it during the second half of the San Antonio game Wednesday and was taken out for the rest of the game. After the game, he called it a speed bump.

Howard missed the first five games of the season, returned Saturday against Toronto and played solidly in two games before having trouble at San Antonio.

"We're going to shut Josh down again for a while, just to make sure he gets some more time to rehab and strengthen it,'' Carlisle said. "He hasn't had any setbacks or anything like that. We just feel it's the best thing. There's no definite time period.''

--Eddie Sefko