Dirk Hits 25000 In Mavs Win

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Dirk Nowitzki became the 17th player in NBA history to go over 25,000 points in his career on Sunday night in New Orleans.  Nowitzki’s 19 points helped propel the Mavs to a 107-89 victory over the Hornets and return to .500 on the season for the first time since December.

Nowitzki’s milestone comes at a time when Mavericks fans have little to cheer about, with the Mavs out of playoff contention for the first time since 2000.  Nowitzki’s emphasis remains on winning games,  “We’d love to finish with a winning record. This means a lot to this franchise. This franchise has been a winning team for a long time, and now the playoff streak is unfortunately over. But we can still make it a winning season and feel good about ourselves going into the summer.”

Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle praised his star forward for reaching 25,000, “He’s a player who has revolutionized the game in many ways. He’s the only 7-foot-1 guy that has ever played the game the way he does, and that is by being good around the basket, being great in mid-range, being great a long distance away, driving it and having the ability to hit any kind of off-balanced, unorthodox shot possible. He’s not only a great player, he’s also a pioneer and innovator in this game, and he’ll go down in history as one of the guys who really changed the game.”

Dallas was led against the Hornets by Shawn Marion, who scored 21 points, and by the players off the bench, who outscored the New Orleans bench 44-23.  Brandan Wright and Vince Carter each scored 16 for the Mavs.