Rondo suffers facial fractures after taking knee to face

A scary incident in Saturday's win over the Orlando Magic will keep Rajon Rondo out for at least the next three games. 

The Dallas Mavericks' point guard suffered an orbital fracture to his left eye, as well as a nasal fracture after taking an accidental knee to the face from teammate Richard Jefferson. 

The incident happened in the first quarter, and forced Rondo out of the game after two minutes. 

Rondo, who has no firm recovery timetable, will miss the Mavericks' game Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves in addition to a pair of road contests versus the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings later in the week.  

The facial injuries continue what has been a rough season for the four-time All-Star, who has struggled since the Mavericks acquired him from the Boston Celtics in December. 

Rondo, an impending free agent, is averaging 9.2 points on 40.5 percent shooting from the field in 21 games with Dallas. After shooting a career-worst 33.3 percent from the free throw line in Boston, Rondo's woes at the charity stripe have somehow worsened. He's converting at a 26.3-percent clip from the line with the Mavericks.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle has benched the struggling star in crunch time, and offensive and defensive numbers per-100 possessions indicate the team has actually performed better without him on the court. 

Rondo's next chance to play will come Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers. 

Devin Harris, who logged 30 minutes Saturday - his most since early December - should be in line for additional run with Rondo sidelined.