Dirk Nowitzki News

“We’d like to be third or fourth. ‘We don’t want to be part of this three team, seventh seed or eighth seed or whatever.”

The Golden State Warriors ruined Dallas’ season a year ago by knocking the Mavericks out of the playoffs in a shocking first-round upset. This year, the Warriors could keep the Mavericks out of the postseason all together.

Monta Ellis scored 30 points and Kelenna Azubuike hit two clutch shots down the stretch to help the Warriors beat the Mavericks 114-104 Sunday night to create a three-way tie with Dallas and Denver for seventh place in the ultracompetitive Western Conference.

‘I got my own problems,’ Warriors coach Don Nelson said. ‘I feel for them, but my bucket is full as well.’ Read more

“Right now, we got a fresh start. We got a new team, and we’re optimistic. It’s hard to see from the outside. But it’s encouraging and we got something special here. And it’s always good when nobody believes in you.”

If this stretch of games has been a test for the Mavericks, the grades have been the kind that would have gotten you grounded for life back when you were a teenager. via Dallas Morning News

“We’re just happy he’s back and we’re going to celebrate his health, we’re going to celebrate his coming off of major cancer surgery, and we’re just going to celebrate. This has nothing to do with basketball. We’re just happy he’s with us.”

Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and sparked the decisive run in the third quarter of the Denver Nuggets’ 118-105 win over the sliding Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

Allen Iverson added 31 points for the Nuggets, who won their fourth straight and moved into a tie with Golden State for the eighth and final playoff spot, one game behind the Mavericks. The Warriors played Portland later Thursday night.

The Nuggets’ grand night was capped when forward Nene entered the game with 1:17 left, marking his return to the court 2 1/2 months after surgery to remove a malignant testicular tumor, and just over a month after undergoing chemotherapy. Read more

Josh Howard scored 32 points and Jason Kidd neared a triple-double Tuesday as the host Dallas Mavericks beat the Los Angeles Clippers , 103-90. Dallas won its first game since losing its leading scorer and … via New York Times

“You can easily turn a bad week into a good week by winning these next three”

So it comes down to this. The Mavericks need a win tonight at Denver to stake their claim that a playoff spot is theirs for the taking. via Dallas Morning News

Like any fascinated basketball fan, I’ve got the NBA standings bookmarked on my computer and it’s one of the first items I check each day. We are now several months in to stating and restating how amazing the Western Conference race is. and it obviously becomes a challenge to say the same thing in a new way.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made the latest attempt, and it’s as good as any.

‘There will not be any upsets [in the first round of the playoffs],’ Popovich said, ‘because there is not an eighth seed and there is not a first seed.’ Read more

“We don’t have to win out. But we all have to pick it up a little.”

Life without Dirk Nowitzki started quite nicely for the Dallas Mavericks.

Josh Howard scored 32 points, Jerry Stackhouse had 20, Erick Dampier had 19 points and 17 rebounds and Jason Kidd neared a triple-double, lifting the Mavs past the Los Angeles Clippers 103-90 on Tuesday night.

OK, so it was only the Clippers. Still, Dallas needed something to go right after dropping three straight games and losing its leading scorer and rebounder to a sprained ankle and knee. And this kind of team-wide effort could serve as a blueprint for how they hope to make up for Nowitzki’s absence down the stretch. Read more

“I am optimistic and have not the slightest fear that Dirk will be missing in Athens”

German NBA star Dirk Nowitzki will be fit to play again for German national basketball team in a July qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics, Germany coach Dirk Bauermann said on Tuesday. via People’s Daily Online

Warriors Baron Davis drives to the basket around Lakers Kobe Bryant as the Warriors take on the Lakers at Oracle Arena on Monday March 24, 2008 in Oakland, Calif. via Alameda Times-Star

“I am going to get reevaluated in the morning and I hope to have more information then.”

Dirk Nowitzki was helped to the locker room Sunday after a nasty spill in the third quarter of the Dallas Mavericks’ game against the San Antonio Spurs.

The reigning NBA most valuable player landed awkwardly after running and blocking a shot by San Antonio’s Ime Udoka. His left ankle seemed to twist first, then the knee as he flopped backward.

Nowitzki started reaching for his ankle, then grabbed near his calf, slapping the floor in agony. He put a hand on his head, then didn’t move as the team’s orthopedist and athletic trainer worked on his lower leg. The arena was silent until Nowitzki sat up. Read more

Southwest Division rivals battle this afternoon, as the San Antonio Spurs visit the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. via Miami Herald

“Some things didn’t go our way, but we hung in there”

It’s just as well that Mark Cuban was out of town Thursday night, instead of ranting from his usual sideline seat at the AAC.

Back-to-back postgame showdowns with coach Avery Johnson might have been too much for both men.

Somebody could have been hurt.

I could try to snow you with a positive spin here, sort of like Avery did us in the aftermath of another Mavs’ loss, but I won’t insult your intelligence.

I could tell you that the Mavs at least played with heart against the Celtics. Read more

The Dallas Mavericks are not a definite for this year’s playoffs. They are No. 7 in the Western Conference playoff standings. via Austin American-Statesman

“You can’t take anything away from them”

A team can punk history for only so long. A team can thumb its nose at the competition for a week or two - or maybe even seven - before someone stands up and shouts that they have had enough. via Dallas Morning News

“We were almost in an apologetic mood, like we shouldn’t even be here”

Spirited comebacks don’t matter.

Closing a Grand Canyon gap on the scoreboard was worthless.

In a game Tuesday night that kicked off the most important home-court stretch of the season, the Mavericks rallied from 25 points down midway through the third quarter.

They had that gigantic Lakers lead sliced to one in the final seconds. Dirk Nowitzki was shooting for the win at the buzzer.

Bottom line: Kobe and Co. win, 102-100.

Story line:

Not the comeback, but instead, the timid, lazy, gutless performance that marked almost the first 30 minutes of a 48-minute contest. Read more