Written by Rob Mahoney at SI.com
With two and a half minutes remaining in a lost cause, Dirk Nowitzki plodded to the Mavericks’ huddle and hunched over Rick Carlisle’s clipboard. The 37-year-old forward was 39 minutes into a 40-minute outing and noticeably drained from the experience. Nowitzki has a weary way about him toward the end of these long nights. His feet drag when play stops. His head hangs and his stare through the floor grows long. Every little break seems like an exhale, particularly now that all Dirk does seems so arduous.
When the game resumes, however, Nowitzki reanimates. The ball could only go to him. Dallas had posted up Nowitzki throughout the fourth quarter on Saturday night as a matter of necessity, and in this instance Carlisle’s design springs a familiar setup to life. Nowitzki sets a down-screen for Raymond Felton in the same way he’s done for dozens of Maverick guards past, only to then use the momentum of the exchange to follow through to the opposite post. This is a basic device to free up Nowitzki for a catch in one of his favorite spots, from which he can stare down and shoot over almost anyone. Tonight he mixes it up—continuing the loop to make a quick play toward the rim and throw his defender (the formidable Serge Ibaka) off his trail. Nowitzki’s layup is canny, clean, and … off. The exhale comes soon after, this time at the end of a last gasp.
“All you’re thinking, basically, is to make one more push,” Nowitzki said. “Make one more push. Get it under 10. Get it to eight, seven—in striking distance. We had a few plays here and there. We were always right there and then something happens where it just doesn’t go our way.”
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