<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> There was no playoff relapse for Dirk Nowitzki. That's why the Mavericks had a better opening playoff weekend at American Airlines Center than the Stars. A year ago, Nowitzki failed to be the dominant player he had been in previous playoffs. Dominant? He wasn't even very good. His 40 percent shooting was an all-time low. He failed to hit timely shots. In the opening round, Houston's Tracy McGrady was clearly the better player. Dallas survived in large part due to Jason Terry's big shots. In the second round, Nowitzki's old pal Steve Nash was far superior, and that ended Dallas' playoff run. This year, after leading Dallas to 60 wins and averaging 27 points and nine rebounds a game, Nowitzki is a strong Most Valuable Player candidate. Fans chanted "MVP" in the first minute of the game Sunday, and Dirk responded with a huge night. He had 31 points, 11 rebounds and three assists as Dallas defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 103-93. The victory gave Dallas a 1-0 lead in the series and kept Memphis winless all time in the playoffs. "Obviously, after last year's playoff run, I wanted to get in a rhythm really quick and feel good about myself," Nowitzki said. "Giving up two [wins to Houston] at home last year put us in a huge hole. We wanted to come out and be more aggressive." Quick aside: What's the difference between the Mavericks and the Stars? In the NBA, there was suspicion that the Los Angeles Clippers were tanking games to avoid Dallas and play Denver in the first round. In the NHL, there was a theory that Colorado didn't mind slipping from sixth to seventh in the standings to draw Dallas instead of hard-working Calgary. The Mavericks, though they were challenged in the second half by Memphis, showed why they are a team you really don't want to face, especially at American Airlines Center, where they were 34-7 in the regular season. Dallas got big contributions from Erick Dampier and Marquis Daniels, who like Nowitzki, had less than sensational postseasons in 2005. But Nowitzki outplayed Memphis' 7-footer Pau Gasol, who with a 20-point average is a nice Nowitzki starter kit, minus the 3-point range. He scored 36 in the Grizzlies' first game against Dallas this season, Memphis' only win in four tries. That was before coach Avery Johnson started adjusting his team's defense. The Mavericks ran a variety of defenders at Gasol in Game 1. He finished with 24 points but didn't hit his first field goal until the third quarter. Memphis earned the fifth seed because of the strong defense coach Mike Fratello demands of his players. The Grizzlies, too, threw an array of defenders against Nowitzki. It didn't matter. He posted up. He hit jumpers. He got to the foul line. Nowitzki had 19 points and five rebounds in the first half as the Mavericks ran out to a 60-51 lead. Gasol rallied in the second half and became a force as the Grizzlies made a game of it. But Nowitzki was a force throughout. In addition to cracking the 30-point mark, Nowitzki was a major reason the Mavericks dominated Memphis on the boards. His 11 rebounds contributed heavily to Dallas' 40-29 edge on the glass. "It's good to get the first one out of the way," Nowitzki said. "Hopefully, we're going to keep playing for a couple of months here." </div> Source
If Dirk keeps up that pace, all the Mavs need is the "second best center in the league" to keep on producing off the bench and there won't be any trouble with Memphis.
I believe the mavs are something like 10-0 when dirk scores 30 in the playoffs, so he needs to keep up this production! After the dismal postseason he had last year, he really needs to step up
Another game, another 31 points for the MVP. Memphis is trying to foul Dirk hard every chance they get but he's not the same player he has been over the past few years. He can take it mentally now and tonight it translated into 12 points at the line. I guess the word was to hack everybody who got to the hole because Howard who can beat almost anyone to a spot had 7 of 8 at the line. Memphis is supposed to have the best defense but Dallas had 5 steals (3 by Howard) and Memphis turned it over 20 times. No wonder they're 0-10 in the playoffs. Doesn't resemble the same team of three weeks ago. Dallas was 0-2 last year to start and won that series. Now they are 2-0 and haven't played that well, at least not offensively; except Dirk.
