DALLAS — With only 30 games remaining in the regular season, the Dallas Mavericks know it’s time to put up or shut up if they want to extend their incredible streak of advancing to the playoffs to 13 years in a row.
The Mavericks (23-29) start the post-All-Star game version of their season four-and-a-half games behind the Houston Rockets (29-26) for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference.The urgency for the Mavericks needs to start immediately when they play their next game -- Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Center.“We know it’s turned into a short season,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said after Monday’s practice. “It’s 30 games in (57) days.“That’s not a lot of time, and it’s a lot of games. We’re anxious to get at it and we’re going to have to wait another day before we tee it up, but it’ll be here soon enough.’’Jordan applauds NowitzkiIn an ESPN The Magazine article last week, Michael Jordan said the only players in today’s era who would have been successful in his era are Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki.Obviously, Nowitzki read the article and was taken aback by Jordan’s comments."For him to even know my name is crazy, to be honest,’’ Nowitzki said. "For him to say that I could have been a good player then means a lot -- it’s humbling."It’s been great, it’s been a crazy ride over 15 years and it’s great to get respect from the greatest of all-time.’’Jordan said different rules and tougher competition is why he thinks most of today’s players would have been a failure in his era.Nowitzki, meanwhile, grew up in Germany a huge fan of Jordan’s and a huge fan of the Chicago Bulls. So, to have his idol heap mega-praise on him was somewhat overwhelming for the Mavs’ 11-time All-Star."Everybody knows (Jordan is) the greatest of all time,’’ Nowitzki said. "Just him saying my name feels already weird."For him to use me in a sentence with those other guys, obviously that means a lot for sure.’’Kaman still not ready to playAlthough he went through non-contact drills Monday, center Chris Kaman still isn’t ready to play in a real basketball game.Kaman hasn’t played since he suffered a concussion during a Jan. 28 practice session. But getting back on the court for the first time since the concussion is considered progress, although Kaman isn’t sure when he’ll be able to play again.“I’m just happy to be able to get back on the court with my team and be able to do something,’’ Kaman said. “I’ve been just kind of in limbo waiting for the last three weeks trying to figure out what I’m going to do and when I’m going to be able to do it.“I’ve got a little bit of a headache, so it’s like still three weeks in a row, but it’s not enough to where at this point it’s slowing me down. I still got to be careful before I’m going to go out and play again, but right now I feel pretty good. I’ve got to see how it feels (today), then try to ramp it up a little more (today), maybe get some contact in practice and then go from there.’’Dwain Price, 817-390-7760
