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Jason Terry is reportedly out 7-10 weeks after suffering an orbital fracture Wednesday night. The Dallas guard took an inadvertent elbow to the face from Corey Brewer, and will leave a hole for his team in the backcourt.

The Mavericks had just acquired Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood from Washington and hadn’t yet gelled as a unit. Now they likely won’t get that chance with this recent injury. That is disappointing as the Mavs were projected to improve significantly with a full lineup with a forecast to win more than 70 percent of their remaining games. For reference, only the Lakers and Cavs had played better than .700 ball this season.

A seven-week timetable would put Terry out until the end of the regular season, a span of 20 games. If the injury keeps him more along the lines of 10 weeks, it would extend into the playoffs giving the Mavs even more reason to worry.

Without Terry, Dallas is still in good shape. AccuScore still projects the Mavs to finish second in the West ahead of Denver and Utah despite the loss of Terry. The Mavericks are projected to win 12.7 games over their final 20 contests compared 14.1 with a healthy Terry. The big blow here is the fact that with Terry combined with the acquisitions of Butler and Haywood, Dallas had the potential to be an elite team. Now it might be merely good, which could be the difference between a potential Finals appearance and a second-round exit. With Terry out, Dallas will now be much more reliant on J.J. Barea and Rodrique Beaubois. Butler will also likely spend ample time in the backcourt. As with any injury, there is always the chance that role players like Barea will be exposed with increased playing time.

On a per game basis, Dallas is now 7 percent more likely to lose from now to the end of the season. This is significant because of the relatively easy schedule Dallas has over the next three weeks. If Terry can beat this projected timetable, it would do the team a great deal of good. Starting March 25, the Mavericks have dates with Portland twice, Orlando, Denver, Memphis, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City. If Terry were to miss only 10 games, the impact of his loss would decrease to -4.5 percent a night.