Dirk wants CP3 or Howard on Mavs

Dirk Nowitzki wants to bring either Chris Paul or Dwight Howard to Dallas Dirk Nowitzki has been the heart and soul of the Dallas Mavericks for the past 15 seasons. Dirk knows his clock is ticking, evidence of the Mavericks missing the playoffs this past year, for the first time in 13 years. The Mavs have cap space this offseason and owner Mark Cuban plans on bringing in a high-profile free agent that he can pair with his long-time superstar, Dirk Nowitzki. Via Dallas News: On Dwight Howard and Chris Paul: Dirk Nowitzki: We’d love to get one of those two. We’d love to get a player in here who can create his own shot and be a superstar-type player. It’s still a long way to go until July. Those guys need to clear their minds a little bit and get away and then start thinking what they want to do with their futures. Hopefully, that’s where we come in and put a great pitch out there and see what happens. Nowitzki went on to say that he would take a pay cut to improve the team when his contract comes off th

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Mavs ask fans to submit uni designs

Tweet Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is always trying to find ways to raise publicity for his team and to simply get people talking about his team. He normally does this by any means necessary. On Monday afternoon, he continued that trend by announcing on his blog that he would be crowd sourcing and letting [...]

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Dwightmare: It’s Mavs Shopping Time

DALLAS — Dwight Howard’s season with the Los Angeles Lakers could not have gone better for the covetous Dallas Mavericks, that is.

“A nightmare,” Howard said, describing Sunday’s Game 4 loss to the Spurs, wrapping up a four-game first-round sweep of the glitzy Lakers. “A bad dream. I couldn’t wake up out of it. It seemed like nothing could go right from the start.”

Yes, Howard was describing just that one game (a game in which he earned a third-quarter ejection in order to make his escape). But maybe he was also describing this entire Lakers season, one he can also make his escape from via July 1 free agency.

The Dwight-Lakers season is over. But will the free-agent-to-be’s nightmare continue? Or is the Dwight-Lakers era also over?

“The longer things go, the more opportunities present themselves,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said recently. “That’s pretty much the way it works. The higher the payroll, the longer the losing streak, the better the chance th

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Marion leads Mavs to 107-89 win over Hornets (Yahoo! Sports)

Dallas Mavericks guard Mike James (13) drives to the basket against New Orleans Hornets forward Lou Amundson (17) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, April 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Dirk Nowitzki didn’t even wait to shower before shaving off his beard.


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Nuggets lose Gallinari but beat Mavs 95-94 (Yahoo! Sports)

DENVER, CO - APRIL 4: Danilo Gallinari #8 of the Denver Nuggets speaks with trainers after a knee injury in a game against the Dallas Mavericks on April 4, 2013 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)

DENVER (AP) — Thanks to Corey Brewer, the Denver Nuggets’ long home winning streak is intact. Their dreams of a deep playoff run, however, took a hit when Danilo Gallinari blew out his left knee.


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Phil Jackson Tweets That Kobe Bryant ‘Almost Pitched Perfect Game’ vs. Mavs

Kobe Bryant triple-doubles make everything alright.

The Black Mamba carried the Los Angeles Lakers to victory over the Dallas Mavericks and Phil Jackson approved.

Following Bryant’s monstrous performance against Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs, the Zen Master took to Twitter to praise his former pupil and the Lakers.

So much for any hard feelings on Phil’s behalf.

Never mind that Kobe had four turnovers and shot 8-of-18 from the floor. Seriously, don’t even think about it, because the Mamba truly did border on perfection, no Yu Darvish pun intended.

He finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and two blocks for his second triple-double of the season (19th career). 

On a night when the Lakers hoisted Shaquille O’Neal‘s jersey into the rafters, some would argue that Bryant attempted to steal the show. Others would choose to question his absence from Shaq‘s halftime ceremony and attempt to revive the rift that once existed between the two.

Jackson, however, took a different approach.

The 11-time coaching champion suggested that Kobe played and won the game for Shaq and the fans.

I wouldn’t disagree. I doubt he gave Shaq the game ball, dedicated the victory to him or rubbed his head for good luck before every quarter, but he was definitely playing for someone other than himself here.

He played for his teammates, for everyone in the building, for all of Los Angeles.

Sensing how much Los Angeles needed this victory, he took over the game in just about every possible aspect. His shot wasn’t falling at a particularly high rate, but he had a very LeBron James-esque game otherwise.

Distributing, defending, leading—he did everything possible to ensure the Lakers won. With Los Angeles’ playoff hopes on life support, he did everything and anything that was needed to keep the Mavericks from essentially pulling the plug.

The Lakers needed a win, so Ice Mamba delivered one.

And you can bet every one Jackson’s 11 (or 13) championship rings that he did what he did for all of “Lakers Nation.”

Shaq included.

 

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The Chicago Bulls Suffer a Late Fourth-Quarter Meltdown Against the Dallas Mavs

Earlier today, the Chicago Bulls suffered perhaps one of their biggest late-game breakdowns this season. Up by 12 with less than four minutes left in the game, the Bulls only managed to score one more point after that.

For the Bulls, the last four minutes of the game were plagued by turnovers, bad shot attempts and missed free throws, which allowed the Dallas Mavericks to make a heroic comeback led by Dirk Nowitzki.

 

 

Turnovers

 

The Bulls are averaging 14.6 turnovers this season, which is 12th among all other teams in the NBA (per Team Rankings). The first turnover, which occurred under the four minute mark was a bad pass from Nate Robinson, which was shortly followed by a bad shooting foul called on Carlos Boozer.

The other bad turnover was a travel called on Kirk Hinrich a few possessions later when the Mavericks were starting to find their shot and ignite their comeback.

Although they took care of the ball relatively well for most of the game, committing just 11 turnovers in 44 minutes, the two careless mishaps by the Bulls’ point guards were unfortunate and they can’t expect to win without staying focused for the entire game.

 

 

Missed Free Throws

Down the stretch with less than a minute left in the game, the Bulls missed three out of four possible free throws. The first miss was on the second free-throw attempt by Boozer after he got fouled on a putback attempt by Vince Carter.

However, the most crucial free throws were missed by Jimmy Butler. With 16 seconds left in the game, Butler was intentionally fouled by Carter and missed both free throws, which could’ve given the Bulls a three-point lead going the other way.

Butler struggled to score throughout the entire game and went just 1-for-8 from the field in 44 minutes of playing time. A loss shouldn’t be blamed on one particular possession or play, but his two missed free throws were just an accumulation of Butler’s poor performance.

 

 

Missed Layups

 

Even though the Bulls missed a few long jumpers, they still gave themselves a chance to win by driving to the basket and attempting high-percentage shots. But the shots just didn’t fall.

Luol Deng, Robinson and Butler all got to the rim on several occasions down the stretch, but they just could not convert on their attempts at the rim. It wasn’t like the Bulls were unable to create good shots at the end of the game—it’s that they just didn’t go into the basket.

The playoffs are quickly approaching and the Bulls cannot suffer any late-game collapses like this one, or they’ll find themselves packing for vacation earlier than they expected.

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Dirk Nowitzki saves Mavs’ season with game-winner

The Mavericks’ playoff hopes survive as Dirk Nowitzki comes up huge in a win over the Bulls

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Nowitzki, Paul get 33, Mavs beat Clippers in OT (Yahoo! Sports)

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 26: Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots a jumper against Blake Griffin #32 of the Los Angeles Clippers on March 26, 2013 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks finally have a win over one of the top four teams headed to the Western Conference playoffs – just in time for their own postseason push.


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Mavs beat Celtics, spoil Terry’s return to Dallas (Yahoo! Sports)

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 22: Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots against Chris Wilcox #44 of the Boston Celtics on March 22, 2013 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Danny Bollinger/NBAE via Getty Images)

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Terry’s quiet fourth quarter was just about complete when Dallas center Brandan Wright waited near the basket for a lob pass from Shawn Marion.


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