Mavericks learn to win without Dirk

There was a time not long ago when the Dallas Mavericks had a faint chance to win a game unless Dirk Nowitzki was there to carry the load.

Those days appear to be over.

With Nowitzki sitting out two games on the Mavericks’ recent four-game road trip and struggling in the two games he played, Dallas was still able to show enough grit to win all four. That includes winning at Philadelphia (110-103) and at Milwaukee (107-105) without Nowitzki.

So, why all of a sudden are the Mavericks able to win without their franchise player in uniform?

“We’re having more practice at it for one thing,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “[Nowitzki’s] minutes are down this year, which means other guys are on the floor.

“The roster has changed some and we feel that the guys that we have on the roster around Dirk facilitate us being better able to cope in those situations.”

Entering this season, the Mavericks were 19-25 since the 2010-11 season in games without Nowitzki. That included a 13-16 record two seasons ago when Nowitzki underwent right knee surgery.

After Nowitzki went 6-of-19 from the floor and scored only 15 points in a 106-102 victory over Toronto last Friday, the Mavericks sat him the next night in Philadelphia. Nowitzki joked that his teammates said he had thus taken off two games in a row.

With three days’ rest, Nowitzki scored 22 points on 8-of-22 shooting during Tuesday’s 132-129 double overtime victory in Chicago. He followed that by sitting out Wednesday’s 107-105 victory in Milwaukee.

“I don’t like missing games,” Nowitzki said. “I never will like missing games, but you’ve got to be smart. I do have a lot of miles now on my legs, and I do plan on playing with this team for a long time hopefully this season.”

Now 2-0 this season without their 12-time All-Star, forward Chandler Parsons said it’s “a little ongoing joke in here” that no Nowitzki, no problem for the Mavs.

“But,” Parsons said, “we definitely want the big fella back.”

Nowitzki will be back in the starting lineup when the Mavericks (15-5) play the Phoenix Suns (11-8) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at American Airlines Center.

Meanwhile, more and more players are picking up the slack when Nowitzki, 36, is sidelined. Players such as Al-Farouq Aminu, Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva have all enjoyed big moments when Dallas’ 17-year veteran goes out, which speaks to the quality of the Mavericks’ bench.

“It says a lot to our depth and the type of roster that they put together this year,” center Tyson Chandler said. “We’ve got guys that are sitting on the bench that would be starting — if not playing significant minutes — on another team.

“Everybody’s been very professional about it and kind of waiting, because we know it’s a long season and we have veterans, so everybody is going to get their shot.”

That’s especially true for Monta Ellis, who scored 10 unanswered points in crunch time against Toronto and figured prominently with some late-game heroics against the Sixers. Ellis followed that up with three free throws with 1.2 second left in regulation that sent the Chicago game into overtime, and then scored seven points in the second overtime of that victory.

Ellis nailed one of the most acrobatic buzzer-beaters in the NBA this season when his off-balanced 18-footer shocked the Bucks. Ellis is taken over a role that’s been reserved for Nowitzki over the past decade.

“He’s a crunch-time player — he wants the ball in big moments,” Nowitzki said. “It’s no secret this year that he’s really our go-to guy. He’s in his prime, he’s great at driving, but his in-between shot got better. We want him to keep it up, stay aggressive and come through for us.”

Particularly when Nowitzki can’t play.

No T on Cuban

A league spokesman said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was not given a technical foul during Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee. Only someone on the court or seated on the bench can be issued a technical.

Cuban told the media after the game that with 10:30 remaining in the third quarter referee Nick Buchert issued him a technical for something he said. But a league spokesman said the technical was given to assistant coach Monte Mathis. Cuban, however, was the one who made a comment on the officiating.

The spokesman isn’t sure if the technical on Mathis will be rescinded.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Mavericks learn to win without Dirk."