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Dallas Mavericks

Dirk, Dallas Doing It Again. But Even Better.

By Richie Whitt Mon., Dec. 6 2010 at 1:35 PM

Categories: Dallas Mavericks

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After Dirk Nowitzki's one-legged, fadeaway, high-arcing, 18-foot shot - off the glass, no less - Friday night in Utah, TV analyst Hubie Brown was almost speechless.

"C'mon!' he exclaimed. "Some of the things this guy does at seven feet is just unfair."

Nowitzki was again brilliant over the weekend, helping the Dallas Mavericks to a nine-game winning streak with road wins in Utah and Sacramento. Against the Kings it was Dirk's defense, as his baseline blocked shot on Carl Landry helped preserve a two-point victory after Dallas was down 99-90 with five minutes remaining.

Already with a 16-4 record, the Mavs could push this streak into the teens. Tomorrow night they open a season-long six-game homestand against Golden State, followed by seemingly winnable games against New Jersey, Utah, Milwaukee, Portland and Phoenix.

It could be a 15-game winning streak by the time the Mavs visit the Heat in Miami on December 20. Delicious.

Long winning streaks are nothing new for Dallas. Shortly after last season's mid-season trade for Caron Butler the Mavs ran off 13 straight. But this year looks and feels different because they're doing it with defense.

And a vintage Nowitzki. I always say he is the most underrated and under-appreciated athlete in the history of Dallas sports.

More proof ...

1. At +217, he leads all NBA players in plus/minus this season. When he's on the court, the Mavs are better.

2. With another 183 points - that should happen during the homestand - he'll move into the Top 25 of all-time NBA scorers. Twenty-five. And the guy he'll pass ... goes by the name of Larry Bird.

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Tags:

basketball, Dirk Nowitzki, JJ Barea, Mark Cuban, Rick Carlisle

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@ Washater - Im not saying that they will not come around on him, but he has not been here for long at all. In order to become a fan favorite you either have to be home grown, or on the Sid, Ov level. Once he has been here for an extended amount of time opinions and following will change. Until then he is viewed as a hired gun, because as of now, that is all he has been.
@Jeremy - Well, your definition of hired gun sucks, then. Because every player on the team who wasn't drafted by the team is a hired gun. If you want to argue that people aren't getting attached to Richards, I'll buy that, but people can certainly get attached to players who aren't drafted and home grown. @ gofuchureself - I hate the NBA...but even I won't go so far as to say that even the 2006 Finals were fixed. There's FAR too much money on the line for a major sports league to be fixed, I think. But there is definitely a bias in the NBA in favor of various "superstar" players. The Mavs don't have any of those players...and, sadly, until Nowitzki leaves the team, they won't. And they will not win a championship as a result.
Do you think he can play corner-back?
@ Washhater - Richards isn't home grown like the others that the fans tend to velcro onto. He has only been here a few years, and with the ownership situation looking like it is. He won't be here much longer.
@gofuhcureself: what do you mean by batter?
Interesting how sports fans in the Metroplex say they don't have the patience with the Mavericks because of the bad luck/bad basketball they've had in the postseason the last few years . . . and yet That Other Team has only cracked the first round once in, what is it, eighteen years (and counting)? It's early days. But I'm loving what the Mavericks are doing so far. Absolutely loving it.
@WashHater - I agree with you on why anybody in this town would watch the NBA after the 2006 finals is beyond me - except...I guess we all must be gluttons for punishment - I still watch, though not with the fervor of pre 2006 finals. I still believe wholeheartedly that the fix was in on the 2006 finals because the league (Stern, in particular) didn't want Cuban winning a title. Have things changed since then? Well, Cuban seems to have toned it down a little since then. The Mavs have gone downhill as well since 2006 - or more likely - the rest of the league is now much, much better. I do like the addition of Chandler in the middle, but will wait and see how this all plays out. And it still boils down to this... If the Mavs were to make it to the finals again - would the fix be in again? The Mavs had their title stolen from them. Period. No one will EVER convince me that the 2006 Heat were batter than the 2006 Mavs. Biggest RIPOFF ever!
I am a WashHater, but I'm also an NBA hater. So I'm making it my personal mission to point out the obvious all season long. Dirk isn't a black superstar. The Mavs will not win a championship until he turns black. The NBA is dumb. Why anyone still watches the league in this town after the 2006 finals is beyond me. P.S. I'm also a hockey/Stars lover. Great to see the team doing well. And Richards being a hired gun...huh? The guy has been here a few years. Sure he is an impending free agent, but he wasn't picked up off the rack last week, either.
@ Dallas Stars Im talking about the spirit of the game. We may have more rinks, but the only people I see on them are people falling down and yucking it up. I do agree that the bandwagon jumpers will arrive as the winning continues. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the casual followers, because of sports junkiness. I just don't care all too much about the details. Will Smith
@Everyone, Oh you will when it comes Stanley Cup time, all you cocaine and boob job chicks with your dates that ordered you from the back of this mag will want to be there. Oh and Hicks is an owner in name only, Monarch and Chase own and run this team now. We have more Hockey rinks per capita of any US city.
Seriously, I try to care about the STARS, but we don't have ice ponds or Canadians. The STARS have a hired gun (Richards), and Tom Hicks as the owner. That combination doesn't add up to success as far as garnering interest. Hockey should consider running more with baseball season, because there is just too much going on for me to concentrate on the STARS right now. Nick Mangold
@Dallas Stars We don't care about you. Love, Everyone in Dallas
Dirk will never get the respect of other Dallas A.T.G. (alltimegreats) like #12 or #8 or #22 or #88 until he gets atleast one of the shiny gold things that they all have in common. He's my favorite local athlete of all time, been watching him since his press conf with Nash so very long ago..but until he has a ring..nobody nationally and few people locally will say anything other than nice player..kinda like we talk about TCU..nice little team.
umm we are here too Richie, more than a 1 liner in Whitts end about us would be nice. I know we dont have money to pay you to cover us but we have won 6 in a row and 8 of 10, are 1st in our division and second in conference. oh hell you dont even have to write it, just copy and paste this comment. Oh and Bill Guerin retired today for all you true stars fans
Mere minutes until someone tries to claim he's soft... American Dad even used that joke last night. Amazing that Dirk will obliterate Bird on the all-time scoring list by the time it's all said and done. It'd be nice to get him and Kidd a ring.