Dallas Mavericks: Dirk’s Finest Games Have Come In West Finals

Dirk Nowitzki has taken the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals three times in his career and he’s played some of his best games in each series.

Dirk Nowitzki is approaching the end of his career. Through his 18 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, he has defined success in every way possible by putting up incredible numbers and displaying a winner’s attitude at the same time.

There’s certain games in Nowitzki’s career that are hard to forget, like his 53-point game against the Houston Rockets in 2004 or his 33-point, 23-rebound outing against the Boston Celtics in 2002.

It’s plain and simple: he’s one of the all-time greats, but some of his best play has come in the Western Conference Finals, a round that he has reached three times in his career.

With appearances in 2003, 2006 and 2011, Nowitzki averaged 28.5 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game and 2.7 assists per game, while shooting 48 percent from the field. The Conference Finals simply sparked some of his best performances.

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2002-03

• PPG: 25.3
• RPG: 11.3
• APG: 2.0

If there’s one series in Nowitzki’s career that’s hard for him to think about, it’s the 2002-03 Western Conference Finals. It’s not that he played bad–because he didn’t–but it leaves a “what if” in his mind with the knee injury in Game 3 that ended his season.

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He went on to play just three games in a series that the Mavs lost 4-2, but still played some great basketball before going down.

Game 1, the only game he played in where the Mavs won, saw Nowitzki shoot 53 percent from the field and hit 17 out of 17 free throws en route to a 38-point, 15-rebound double-double, where he also added a couple of assists, a block and a steal.

In Game 2, Nowitzki put up another double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds) as the San Antonio Spurs evened the series at one. In Game 3, he had 15 points and nine rebounds with no trips to the free throw line before ultimately suffering from the injury that ended what could’ve been a special series for him.

2005-06

• PPG: 28.0
• RPG: 13.2
• APG: 3.5

This high-energy series against Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns saw Nowitzki average a double-double, as he had five in six games.

Every game in the series had some kind of exciting twist to it and, most of the time, Nowitzki was involved. One lost stat was his average of 1.3 steals per game. With at least one a game, and three in the series-clinching Game 6, it further proved just how much he did to help his team win.

This series holds a particularly special night as Dirk Nowitzki dropped his second 50-point game in a Game 5 that gave the Mavs a huge 3-2 series lead.

Nowitzki did it on his home court in Dallas as he shot 54 percent (14-for-26) and added in five threes, including one in the final two minutes of the game which helped him reach 50 points.

Besides a poor Game 4 outing, Nowitzki put on a vintage performance in one of the best years of his career.

The end result gave himself and the Mavs their first Western Conference Championship and their first trip to the NBA Finals, where they would go on to lose to the Miami Heat in six games.

2010-11

• PPG: 32.2
• RPG: 5.8
• APG: 2.6

Playing in what proved to be one of the final years of his prime, Dirk Nowitzki had one of his best series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in May 2011.

Nowitzki proved that he was ready to go to work and get back to the Finals when he dropped 48 points on OKC in Game 1, repeatedly outworking defenders like Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison and Kevin Durant. The most incredible part of his performance was his 12-of-15 shooting.

He only took 15 shots as he made 24-of-24 free throws, adding in six rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

It was easily one of Nowitzki’s hottest nights on the court and it came when his team needed him the most.

That wasn’t it for Nowitzki. Though he cooled off (slightly) in Games 2 and 3, he came back even stronger in Game 4.

His team trailed by 15 points with a little more than five minutes to play, but that was just a setup as he put the finishing touches on a 40-point night in one of his best late-game performances ever.

In those final five minutes, Nowitzki hit four clutch baskets for nine points and added two more when he sank two enormous free throws with 6.4 seconds left, ultimately tying the game and sending it to overtime where the Mavs took control.

The series then moved back to Dallas for Game 5, where Nowitzki hit a three-pointer with 1:14 left in the fourth, giving the Mavs a lead they wouldn’t lose.

They went on to secure a victory that advanced them to the Finals, where they claimed their first championship by defeating the Heat in six games.

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It was a defining series for a determined legend looking to take his team to the next level. Nowitzki seemed to get better each time he made it to the conference finals.

Though it’s certainly a longshot, seeing him make it back one more time in his final two seasons would be something special.