Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Nowitzki did not get many of the shots he and his Mavericks teammates wanted during a 90-85 win over the Celtics last night. In fact, Nowitzki did not get many shots, period. "I think I only took three shots [in the second half]," Nowitzki said. "That's got to be the least I've taken in a while in a half - just because I couldn't get any clean touches. " But Nowitzki made all three of those attempts count, including a final 3-point play drive for the deciding points.

James Harden scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma City rallied for a 103-97 victory Saturday night in Dallas to sweep the defending NBA champion Mavericks out of the playoffs. The Thunder trailed by 13 points with 9:44 left before Harden scored 7 in a row, and 9 in a 12-0 run over the next three minutes. Oklahoma City finally took the lead, and kept it, after Russell Westbrook stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki and passed to Serge Ibaka for a two-handed slam that made it 92-91 with 5:17 left.

Dirk Nowitzki sat out Dallas's 83-81 victory in New Orleans last night and will miss at least three more games so the star forward can get in better game shape while strengthening his sore right knee. "We just thought it was a good decision for everybody. I'm not happy right now anyways, so the guys are better off when I'm not out there," Nowitzki said. "This gives me time to really do some of the stuff that I couldn't do when my knee was bothering me the last couple weeks. I couldn't lift and run and do the things I needed to do. " Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said he and the Mavericks'...

Dirk Nowitzki leaned back in the chair at the podium, trying to explain what went wrong for the Dallas Mavericks once they got home for the playoffs. There was really only one way to put it after they trailed throughout in a 95-79 loss Thursday night that gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a commanding 3-0 series lead. "We picked a bad time to put a stinker out there," Nowitzki said. After losing the first two games on the road by a combined four points, the defending NBA champions were Thunderstruck by Kevin Durant and young Oklahoma City.

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has been awarded Germany's highest honor for sport. Germany President Christian Wulff presented Nowitzki with the Silver Bay Leaf on Sunday. Nowitzki led the Mavericks to this year's NBA title over the Miami Heat and was named the series MVP. Wulff praised his fellow German for remaining "modest and restrained" despite his success. Nowitzki frequently returns to Germany, where he and his sister run a foundation that supports children around the globe.

End of third quarter: Heat 65-61: Miami ended the quarter on a 22-10 run after the Mavericks scored the first 7 points to race to a 51-43 lead. LeBron James was the story here with three 3-pointers in the quarter, including a fadeaway 26-footer at the buzzer that sent the Miami crowd into a frenzy. James had 19 points after three quarters while Dirk Nowitzki had 17 on 5-for-14 shooting. Halftime: Mavs 44-43: A brutal and physical defensive game as both teams are shooting under 40 percent.

Final: Mavericks 105-95: Dallas used an 8-0 run early in the second half to provide the knockout blow and Miami had nothing left to offer. Dirk Nowitzki wins the Finals MVP awarded by Bill Russell. Meanwhile the new Big Three come up empty. The rest of the Mavericks besides Nowitzki shoot 32 for 55. End of third quarter: Mavericks 81, Heat 72: Dallas used pinpoint shooting and good defense to create some distance. Dirk Nowitzki is struggling but he gave the Mavericks a 71-65 lead with a 3-pointer.

Dirk Nowitzki says he will play for Germany at the upcoming European Championship when Olympic berths will be at stake. The Dallas Mavericks forward says the break after the NBA finals was brief, but he'd "like to help the young German team have success. " Nowitzki led the Mavericks to the NBA championship over the Miami Heat and was named the series MVP. The European Championship is Aug. 31-Sept. 18 in Lithuania. The two finalists qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have pulled off another stunning comeback, tying the NBA finals at two games each. And this time, Nowitzki did it while battling the flu. Nowitzki shook off three poor quarters to score 10 of his 21 points in the final period as the Mavericks outscored the Miami Heat 21-9 over the final 10:12 for an 86-83 victory in a memorable Game 4 Tuesday night. The Mavs avoided going down 3-1, a deficit no team has ever overcome in the finals, and guaranteed the series will return to Miami for a Game 6 on Sunday night.

Dirk Nowitzki got the Dallas Mavericks to the brink of an NBA championship. His teammates did the rest, a perfect ending for a club that talked all season about its greatest strength being the sum of its parts. Nowitzki missed 11 of his first 12 shots and matched his series low with 21 points, yet with Jason Terry scoring 27 and every starter and reserve making some sort of significant contribution, the Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 105-95 Sunday night to wrap up the first title in franchise history.

Last postseason, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks rode a wave of late-game comebacks to win the franchise's first NBA title. Now the Oklahoma City Thunder are showing the Mavs how it feels to be on the other side. Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant added 26 in an off-shooting performance and Oklahoma City clawed out a 102-99 victory over Dallas on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. The Mavericks led in the final minute in both road games so far, but couldn't even manage a split as the Thunder gutted out two...

Vince Carter had 19 points, including eight straight for Dallas early in the fourth quarter, and the playoff-bound Mavericks finally pulled away from the young Golden State Warriors for a 104-94 victory Friday night. Carter's personal streak ended when he had an assist on Jason Terry's breakaway 3-pointer that stretched the Dallas lead to 87-75 with 9 minutes left. It was the last regular season home game for the defending NBA champions, who clinched a playoff spot Thursday night without even playing.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks rallied Wednesday night for a 117-110 victory over the Houston Rockets, whose playoff hopes took another blow. Jason Terry put the Mavericks ahead to stay with a 3-pointer that made it 93-92 with 7:37 left. By the time Nowitzki completed a three-point play 3 ½ minutes later, the Mavericks led 102-94. That wrapped up a 20-6 run their 11-time All-Star forward started with consecutive 3-pointers.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and former Golden State lottery pick Brandan Wright had 16 points and nine rebounds, leading the Dallas Mavericks past the Warriors 112-103 on Thursday night. Jason Kidd added 12 assists, 10 rebounds and nine points to pace the Mavericks to a 19-point lead before hanging on late, moving 1 ½ games behind Memphis for the Western Conference's fifth playoff seed. The Grizzlies lost 107-97 to San Antonio earlier in the night. The Mavericks are just a half-game ahead of Denver and Houston.

Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Zach Randolph added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies built a big early lead and held on to beat the Dallas Mavericks 94-89 on Saturday night. Gilbert Arenas added 14 points and made three 3-pointers, while Mike Conley finished with 12 points for Memphis, which won its second straight and seventh in the last nine games. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Brandan Wright added 16 points. Vince Carter had 14 points, while Shawn Marion finished with 12 points and 11...

Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks used a big fourth-quarter run to get a 95-85 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. Shawn Marion scored 10 of his 16 points when the Mavericks went ahead with a 21-4 run over a 7-minute span in the fourth quarter to take control. It was the first of two games in four days between the teams that are in a virtual tie for fifth place in the Western Conference standings. They play again Saturday in Memphis, a night after both play different teams.

Randy Foye had 28 points with a career-high eight 3-pointers and the Los Angeles Clippers won their sixth consecutive game, 94-75 over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night for their longest winning streak in two decades. Blake Griffin had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who last won six in a row in March 1992. Griffin had scored 20 points in each of the previous six games, but still had his 33rd double-double this season. After Brandan Wright's tip-in capped an 8-0 run for the Mavericks to get within 76-62 with about 7 ½ minutes left, Foye responded with a 3-pointer.