Miami ? Brian Cardinal took one look at Dirk Nowitzki’s injured finger, turned to the Dallas Mavericks’ trainer and recommended his treatment plan.

“Cut it at the knuckle,” Cardinal said, making a scissors motion with his right hand. “Like Ronnie Lott.”

Good thing “Dr.” Cardinal is a backup forward whose specialty is comic relief.

Nowitzki’s injury was more source of fun than concern Wednesday, starting from the moment he woke up. He expected the torn tendon at the tip of his left middle finger to be sore and throbbing, and it wasn’t either.

So only the devilish teasers were even considering a Lott-like amputation of his fingertip.

Nowitzki took the practice court wearing a splint to keep the finger straight and figures it’ll be mostly a nuisance for the next month or two. He and shooting coach Holger Geschwindner were planning their own workout later Wednesday to see which moves Nowitzki can and can’t make and to come up with ways to compensate, starting with Game 2 of the NBA finals against the Miami Heat tonight.

“Hey, (Rajon) Rondo played with one arm, so he might be able to play with nine fingers,” Geschwindner said, smiling.