Dirk Nowitzki has decided to return to the only team he has ever played for. Loyalty comes with a price sources say is worth at least $80 million and includes a no-trade clause. He and Kobe Bryant would be only two players in NBA with no-trade clauses in contract.
With Nowitzki making good on a longstanding offer to Cuban to take less than the maximum $96.2 million he could have received over the next four seasons in exchange for assurances that the Mavericks will use that financial flexibility to ramp up their efforts to acquire a top-tier sidekick.
Dallas re-signing Dirk comes at little surprise, but finding help for him is going to be a lot tougher, but having the All-Star power forward’s verbal commitment should enable Dallas to begin its pursuit of help through sign-and-trade offers in earnest, since Cuban can now assure prospective targets that Nowitzki will be in Dallas through at least 2013-14. The Mavericks lost to the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs primarily due to Dirk getting absolutely no assistance from teammates.
Smell that! (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Los Mavs, lost. Paul Pierce scored 29 points, Rajon Rondo added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Celtics stretched their winning streak to four games with a 102-93 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night.
Ray Allen had 21 points for the Celtics, beaten by the Mavericks 99-90 in Boston on Jan. 18 in their only other meeting this season. Boston’s Rasheed Wallace vowed “retribution” in the rematch, complaining after the game in January that the referees give Dallas’ top scorer Dirk Nowitzki preferential treatment. Wallace refused to comment after Saturday night’s game, but Rondo said the Celtics weren’t dwelling on the past.
“We don’t look at it as payback,” Rondo said. “That game was over when it happened. It’s a new time for us and we just needed a win.” Nowitzki had 37 points in the first meeting, but Boston’s Kevin Garnett, a longtime Nowitzki nemesis, missed the game with a hyper extended right knee. Had he been healthy, Garnett would have been the primary defender on Nowitzki. This time, Garnett and Wallace took turns guarding Nowitzki, who still went 11 for 19 from the floor and finished with 28 points. Boston went 12 for 17 from the field in the fourth quarter, with Rondo hitting all five field-goal attempts and scoring 10 points in the quarter.
The Celtics are on a four game winning streak. There longest winning streak since late November. For most teams a four game winning streak is a something to celebrate, for the Celtics its expected. The Celtics defense against the Rockets and Mavs in back-to-back games was at a level unseen pretty much all season.
The true test comes Monday when the Celtics travel to Utah to play the Jazz. The last time the Celtics played in Energy Solutions Arena Kevin Garnett injured his knee on a simple* alley-oop play. Its been just over a year since then, and the question of whether the Celtics are playing rope-a-dope with the rest of the league is soon to be answered come playoff time. After Mondays game against the Jazz the Celtics return home for the next six games ending against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Houston Rockets defeated the Dallas Mavericks in OT. Kyle Lowry finished with a career-high 26 points and 10 assists off the bench.
Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was ruled out of the remainder of Friday night’s game against Houston after Nowitzki’s elbow caught the Rockets’ Carl Landry in the mouth as he drove to the basket early in the second quarter. Five of Landry’s teeth were cracked on the play, knocking the Rockets’ forward out of the game as well. Landry was called for fouling Nowitzki as the All-Star forward drove hard to his left to set up a short jumper and caught Landry with his right elbow. The Mavericks found pieces of two teeth imbedded in Nowitzki’s right elbow and had to spend 30 minutes cleaning the gash before adminstering X-rays which were found to be negative. The Mavericks have listed him as questionable for Cleveland on Sunday with a deep laceration in his right elbow. An update to his status is expected on Saturday. Landry was immediately taken to an emergency room for treatment. Nowitzki shot two free throws left-handed immediately after the play, which occurred early in the second quarter. By taking the free throws — Nowitzki made 1 of 2 — he remained eligible to return to the game. But a return was ruled out entering the fourth quarter, with Nowitzki having already received three stitches. Carlisle and Dallas’ Erick Dampier received their second technical fouls of the night late in overtime and were ejected. Dallas finished with six technicals and Houston had one. … More than an hour after the game, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said his team was protesting the game because the referees had made “multiple misapplications of the rules” regarding the technical fouls in overtime. The cost of protesting a game is $10,ooo, which to Mark Cuban is like a dime to us mere mortals.
I really hope the Rockets have a good “dental plan” because Landry needs it. On April 24, 2008, Landry lost tooth after being hit by Carlos Boozer during a playoff game, and in that same month lost a tooth after being elowed by Dikembe Mutumbo in practice.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Four of the Celtics’ five losses this season have come on a Friday. Every other day of the week, Boston has posted a .944 win percentage while averaging 10 points more a game. Unfortunately they played the hungry Sixers on Friday, and let a 15 point lead vanish. Leading to a tip in win for the Sixers, there second win in 13 games.
The Celtics played most of the game without Rasheed Wallace, who was ejected in the second quarter after drawing two technicals and having to be restrained by assistant coach Tom Thibodeau. ”Whether he’s right or wrong doesn’t matter. You’ve got to try to control yourself to stay in the game,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “He understands his value to the team, and his teammates understand his value. At some point, they’ll talk to him.” Wallace was ejected for the 30th time in his NBA career — the most for any player since 1992. He also has 10 technicals this season; 16 is an automatic suspension. The Celtics had a pregame ceremony to recognize Ray Allen’s 20,000th point, which came Dec. 10 against Washington. Garnett presented him with the official game ball. He’s the sixth player to reach the milestone as Celtic, and the 33rd in NBA history.
The New Orleans Hornets remember the 58 point beat-down they suffered from the Denver Nuggets in last years playoffs. The first half was a dominant one by the Nuggets, but Chris Paul refused to let his team be embarrased again. Paul finished with 30 points, a season-high 19 assists and nine rebounds, most of it coming during a sensational second half that helped the Hornets overcome a deficit that reached 15 points in the second quarter. ”This is what you play for,” Paul said. “Our coach told us before the game, ‘When you lose to a team in the playoffs, it’s always a rivalry.’ And this team embarrassed us when we played here last year. We definitely wanted this one. Yes, it’s just one win. But we really wanted to beat those guys.” Paul has seven straight double-doubles since returning from his left ankle sprain.
Gilbert Arenas had season highs with 45 points and 13 assists and the Washington Wizards ended a six-game losing streak, beating the Golden State Warriors 118-109 Friday night.
Dirk Nowitzki has decided to return to the only team he has ever played for. Loyalty comes with a price sources say is worth at least $80 million and includes a no-trade clause. He and Kobe Bryant would be only two players in NBA with no-trade clauses in contract.
