21 for 21: Dirk's greatest games - #19-21

As Dirk Nowitzki enters his 21st NBA season, all with the Mavericks, this fall, we have assumed the difficult but enviable task of scanning Nowitzki’s 1,616 career games — 1,471 regular season and 145 playoff contests — and narrowing them down to his top 21. Keep in mind we’re accounting for the magnitude of the game as well as the strength of Dirk’s performance. We will have one installation featuring three games each week, completing the reveal over a seven-week span. By the end of this, training camp will already be underway and the regular season will be less than a month away. Onward!

No. 21 — No. 19

No. 21: Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers; March 20, 2016

Venue: American Airlines Center

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Result: Mavs win 132-120 in OT

Dirk’s line: 39 minutes, 40 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals.
16/26 from the field (61.5%), 3/5 from 3-point range, 5/5 free throws.

What happened: Nowitzki made some history just by participating in this one, moving into a tie for 13th place with Moses Malone for games played (he’s now fifth on that list). It was a pretty ho-hum start to the game for Nowitzki, scoring six points, including knocking in four of his five free throws on the night, and he ended the first half with 14 points. The Big German then exploded in the third quarter for 12 points, and after the regulation ended in a 113-113 tie, the stage was set for Nowitzki in overtime. With the Mavs clinging to a three-point lead midway through the overtime period, Nowitzki rattled off eight points in less than a minute, including back-to-back three-pointers, officially putting the game out of reach.

Nowitzki became just the fourth player to score at least 40 points after his 37th birthday, joining Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Karl Malone. As Rick Carlisle put it after the game, “Never underestimate greatness at any age.”

Highlights

Of course, there was your iconic one-legged fadeaway… And 1

A simple jumper started to put the icing on in OT…

… and back-to-back three-pointers served as the daggers.

Saad Yousuf: I remember being at the AAC for this one not too long ago, and the funny thing this season was the dunk contest between Dirk and his teammate, Zaza Pachulia. Basically, Dirk was being made fun of all year for being unathletic, old and washed up so of course, he goes out in the 70th game of the season, plays almost 40 minutes and drops 40 points in an overtime win over a team that was the fifth seed in the playoffs that year.

Tim Cato: I remember missing Nowitzki’s second-to-last 40-point game, watching it on the television and being mad I wasn’t there in person covering it. He had lit up the New Orleans Pelicans and made 15 free throws. After a couple years, I was fairly sure that would be it.

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But then there was this game, in a crucial late-season matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers in March 2016. He rattled off an incredible display of shot taking and shot making, and he did it while barely going to the free throw line. It was brilliant finesse, with a couple of drives to the basket mixed in just to keep Portland honest. He came through clutch late, securing the needed win for Dallas.

I was also there, Saad, and I remember that crowd going nuts. No dunks for Dirk, and I believe he did finish the season with fewer dunks than Pachulia, but he certainly won the figurative dunk-off in this one.

No. 20: Dallas Mavericks vs. Indiana Pacers; January 12, 2007

Venue: Conseco Fieldhouse

Result: Mavs win 115-113 in OT

Dirk’s line: 44 minutes, 43 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists.
13/24 from the field (54.2%), 2/4 from 3-point range, 15/18 free throws.

What happened: After the Mavs fell behind by 11 points in the opening quarter, Nowitzki helped them close the gap to five points early in the second quarter with a couple of quick jumpers. It was a close game for much of the next two quarters until Indiana seemingly started to pull away late in the fourth quarter. The Pacers went up by six points with under three minutes to go but Jason Terry went off the rest of the way in regulation, with a couple of free throws from Nowitzki – who had hurt his ankle – sandwiched in between.

In overtime, Nowitzki scored eight of the Mavs’ 12 points, including three clutch free throws in the final five seconds to seal the deal. This was Nowitzki’s highest-scoring game of his lone MVP season and the coach on the other side trying to contain him was none other than Rick Carlisle. The win also came in a stretch of the season where Nowitzki helped lead the team to 38 wins in a span of 40 games.

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Saad Yousuf: I think the reason this game deserves a spot on this list is that it’s arguably the poster moment from Dirk’s only MVP season. It really gave you a flavor of everything Dirk was about that year, in that he scored a lot of points, battled through an injury and at the end of everything, he came through in the clutch with a few free throws at the end of overtime to ice it. It was also a cool game because Jason Terry was huge, so it almost felt like he and Dirk were tag-teaming throughout the night.

Tim Cato: That this was Dirk’s highest-scoring game also says something about his consistency that season. He wasn’t dropping 50-point masterpieces, and he didn’t need to. While playing normal minutes, he scored double-digits in every game that season. (He had two six-point games, but he played just 10 minutes in both instances.) He scored in the 20-point range 43 times, and in the 30s 18 times, and never had fewer than 13 points in games where he played 30-plus minutes.

All that said, this 43-point performance was a masterpiece and a perfect summation of why he deserved the MVP that season.

No. 19: Dallas Mavericks vs. Atlanta Hawks; January 15, 2002

Venue: Philips Arena

Result: Mavs win 116-107

Dirk’s line: 48 minutes, 40 points, 11 rebounds.
12/22 from the field (54.5%), 6/15 from 3-point range, 10/13 free throws.

What happened: From the opening tip to the final buzzer, Nowitzki did not come off of the court, giving the Mavs a wire-to-wire performance that they needed from him. Nowitzki had to immediately match Jason Terry – yes, Atlanta Terry – shot for shot and he did just that coming out of the gate with 15 points in the first quarter. To get a feel for what the Nowitzki vs. Terry battle was like that day, especially early, when the Mavs led the Hawks 37-36 a quarter way through the second period, Nowitzki had scored 20 points for the Mavs while Terry had scored 21 for the Hawks.

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Nowitzki ended up with 40 points, hitting a variety of shots ranging from trailing threes, corner triples, fadeaway jumpers, and layups. While the performance may look like something you’d expect to see on Nowitzki’s Hall of Fame resume now, it’s also noteworthy that at this point early in his career, these performances weren’t the norm for Nowitzki, and he wasn’t yet a bona-fide superstar.

Oh, if you were wondering about Terry… he scored 46 points, a career high. 46 ultimately futile points.

Highlights

A block and trail-3 to start the festivities

Shots aside, Dirk attacked the hoop as well

A fadeaway to end a dominant first quarter

Ray Allen? No, that’s Dirk with a corner three-pointer

Saad Yousuf: A Jason Terry vs. Dirk Nowitzki… duel? Yup, and Dirk wasn’t quite the superstar yet, though he was in the making. Any time you go wire to wire and play 48 minutes, it’s impressive — but the Mavs really needed every second of that from Dirk to hold off JET and the Hawks. There may be a few moments in the early part of the century that were Dirk “arrival” moments and as far as regular season performances go, this is up there. The fact he did it against the guy he’s probably most synonymous with in Dallas is the cherry on top.

Tim Cato: I remember stumbling upon these YouTube highlights and being captivated. I’ve always suspected that this game helped influence the Mavericks to go sign Terry, and as they say, the rest is history.

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