Daily NBA Fix: Dirk Nowitzki’s Aging As Gracefully As His Shot

Dirk Nowitzki hit another game-winner in his career as Kobe Bryant watched from the bench, but we still got a great moment between the two.

Ultimately we don’t remember much from the Dallas Maverick’s 92-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, but there was still a moment that will serve as another footnote in Dirk Nowitzki‘s storied career.

With less than 10 seconds left to play and the game tied, it was Dirk vs. Julius Randle in the post. Randle didn’t know it yet, but he was already dead as Nowitzki spun around his 37-year-old body and let off one of his signature fadeaway jumpers with his leg extended forward as he drifted away.

Of course more than the game-winner itself, we’ll remember that moment where Kobe Bryant, in his suit on the bench, had no problem recognizing basketball excellence. Kobe’s personality doesn’t allow for a lot of compliments to be given out, but it was clear the two were equals.

Sure, Dirk only won one championship but he also didn’t play for one of the best ran franchises (until the last few years) in NBA history. In any given game, you’ll take Kobe or Dirk on the final shot and for the win, and that’s what matters.

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Even more, Dirk is playing on a team that is currently sixth in the Western Conference. It is unlikely that Dallas will win a title this year, but Dirk, at least, has a shot. He took less money to do so, and while I take no issue with Kobe getting as much as the Lakers will pay him, Nowitzki has something Kobe doesn’t have right now, and that’s hope.

There is some hope for the Dallas Mavericks. Maybe the pull off a trade, maybe Dirk loses his mind and they go on an unexpected playoff run. Unlikely, sure, but that’s more than Kobe has this season.

Kobe clearly has many more career accolades and championships that Dirk has or ever will, but with the Lakers dead last in the Western Conference, I imagine there is a part of Kobe that would trade places just to have the chance to give his team a shot in the playoffs.

That won’t happen this year, or again in his career. It is over. Kobe is way too competitive for that not to eat at him just a little bit.

Dirk proved that not only does he still have “it,” the moment reminded us which one is still on a playoff contender and which one is on a well-deserved victory lap of for his amazing career.

Kristip-Slam Porzingis

The New York Knicks fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in overtime, but we got this powerful and violent put-back slam dunk for rookie Kristaps Porzingis.

The potential Rookie of the Year wasn’t much more than an afterthought when the season began, a comparative long shot to win the award, but he’s just behind favorites Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns in scoring with 14 points a game, second to only Towns in rebounds with 7.8 a game, and leading all rookies in blocks with 1.96 a game.

Towns in still likely to be the Rookie of the Year, but Porzingis has been the most fun to watch so far.

Jan 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) looks on during overtime against the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Clippers won in overtime 114-111. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Griffin’s Strange Injury Just Another Misstep for Clippers

Doc Rivers wasn’t very happy about having to talk about Blake Griffin‘s injury before their game with the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. It turned out the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t need Griffin to win as Indiana hasn’t been able to close out in the past month.

The Clippers capitalized on several Pacers mistakes in the final minutes and won 91-89, but that clearly wasn’t where the story was on Tuesday.

If Los Angeles was struggling with a Pacers team that has a losing record since the start of December, how hard will it be to hold on to their fourth-place spot in the Western Conference?

Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver sums up the fallout well.

"This punch will almost certainly cost him an All-Star selection and an All-NBA selection. This punch forces his Clippers teammates, who have done well to carry on while he’s been sidelined with a torn quadriceps, to plow forward without their leading scorer until after the All-Star break. This punch could have playoff seeding and home-court advantage implications, as the Clippers are currently fourth in the West, sitting four games behind the Thunder and three games in front of the Grizzlies. This punch makes the Clippers, widely mocked for years for their supposed dysfunction, the butt of another round of mean-spirited jokes and speculation about their core group’s future. More directly, this punch could cost Ballmer something like $4-plus million worth of Griffin’s availability."

All this is serious and whatever happened between him and Clippers equipment manager Matias Testi is likely more complicated than just a lapse in judgment, and hopefully this gets resolved for all sides in the most amicable way possible.

Caught up with ex-Pacer and current Clipper Lance Stephenson and FIRST thing he said was, "I bet you thought it was me at first. Not me!"
— Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNFL) January 26, 2016

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So at least someone was amused.