Column by TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News | tarcher@dallasnews.com
Sitting at his locker as Sunday night was closing in on Monday morning, Dirk Nowitzki watched the highlights of the Mavericks’ 108-100 win against New Orleans thanks to the HD television inside his cubicle.
As he sprayed some athlete’s foot medicine on his toes, there was Nowitzki knocking down a key fadeaway. As he put one sock on, there he was doing it again. As he put the other sock on came the clutch jumper in the paint with 58.2 seconds left.
It was surreal, but that’s been the way Nowitzki has played lately.
He finished Sunday with 36 points on 14-of-25 shooting. He added eight rebounds, seven assists and a steal. About the only thing Nowitzki did wrong all night was miss a free throw for the first time in 44 tries.
“I thought it was one of his better all-around games in recent games,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “And we certainly needed it.”
It wasn’t that Nowitzki scored more than 30 points for the third straight game, which is the first time that has happened since February 2008. It was how Nowitzki recognized his team’s offensive woes in the fourth quarter and decided to impose his will on the game.
And it was how his teammates knew to go to him.
With a 25-point lead down to six after a Peja Stojakovic 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, Nowitzki got the ball in the post against Hornets forward James Posey, a pesky defender.
Nowitzki patiently drilled a fadeaway jumper. He did the same thing on the next possession and added a free throw after New Orleans coach Jeff Bower was called for a technical foul. The lead was back to 11 points.
But the Hornets made another run and had the lead cut to101-97. With Posey blanketing him, Nowitzi made a fadeaway in the paint with 58.2 seconds left after he missed shots he thought he made earlier.
“We weren’t in a good groove there in the fourth, so I felt like I had to take more shots,” Nowitzki said. “I was really disappointed there. I got two good looks with two minutes to go that went in and out. Then I finally made the turnaround with 58 seconds to go. That was a big shot.”
Nowitzki scored 12 of the Mavericks’ final 16 points. Often criticized for not making critical shots, Nowitzki has scored often in the fourth quarter of his last three home games against the Pacers (8 points), Lakers (11) and Hornets (14).
Nowitzki’s new teammates knew his skill level, but they have learned to appreciate his game even more now that they share the court with him.
“He’s one player who has at halftime 20 points, and it doesn’t seem like it,” DeShawn Stevenson said. “He’s a great player. He puts the team on his back when he needs to, and that’s what a franchise player should do.”
Nowitzki said he’s been in a “pretty good groove,” since the All-Star break, but he credits more of his success to Caron Butler’s arrival, Jason Kidd’s ability to push the ball, and Brendan Haywood being a factor down low.
“There’s going to be games where I’m challenged more and where I’ve got to play a better all-around game, get some passes, maybe take the double team and move the ball,” Nowitzki said. “Those are the kinds of nights where it’s more important than if I shoot the ball well.”
