Dirk Nowitzki looks ahead to tough Mavericks’ schedule
Forget about the taking-one-game-at-a-time approach that players and coaches always preach.
Without being prompted, forward Dirk Nowitzki brought up the Dallas Mavericks’ upcoming schedule, and it sounded as if the Mavs were about to walk into a room full of rattlesnakes.
After Sunday’s 4 p.m. game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center, the Mavericks return home for one game Tuesday against LeBron James and the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
From there, Dallas hits the road for a three-game trip, starting Wednesday at Oklahoma City in the second game of a back-to-back. The trip continues Friday in Chicago and ends Jan. 17 in San Antonio.
The games are usually won in the second half, but if you’re always down 10, 15, 20 and the other team has the confidence going, it’s not that easy any more to come back and win.
Dirk Nowitzki on Friday’s loss to Milwaukee
“We have some unbelievable games coming up in January, not only the amount, but also the quality of the opponents,” Nowitzki said after Saturday’s practice. “We’d love to get this one [against Minnesota] before we go home.
“Next week is obviously a killer with Cleveland and then going to OKC, Chicago and the Spurs. It’s as tough as it’s going to get, so we’d love to get this win [against the Timberwolves].”
The Mavericks (21-16) know a victory over Minnesota (12-25) won’t happen if they roll out another shoddy first-half performance like the one in Friday’s 96-95 loss in Milwaukee. The Mavs outscored the Bucks in the second half 56-41 but were ambushed in the first half 55-39.
Nowitzki tried to explain why the Mavericks went into a Jekyll-and-Hyde routine against the Bucks.
“Sometimes you’re an older team, you’re a veteran team, and you seem to ease [into the game] a little,” Nowitzki said. “The games are usually won in the second half, but if you’re always down 10, 15, 20 and the other team has the confidence going, it’s not that easy any more to come back and win.
We’ve got to start off right, get back on defense, build our defense, and contest every shot like we did in the second half [Friday] and then we should be in good shape.
Dirk Nowitzki
“That’s on us. That’s on our approach to the game; that’s being ready to play, find good shots.”
So how does coach Rick Carlisle light a fire and get his team to string together two solid halves in the same game?
“We’ve just got to do it — and it’s on us,” Carlisle said. “At a certain point we’ve got to decide if this is really important to us. I think our guys feel it is, but it was a little more to Milwaukee in the first half, and we’ve got to tip that back in our direction for [Sunday).”
Whatever scales the Mavs try to tip in their direction, they might have to do it without Deron Williams. The 11-year veteran injured his right (shooting) arm against the Bucks in the first half Friday when he collided with center Greg Monroe.
Carlisle said Williams will probably be listed as questionable against the Timberwolves.
“I’m concerned about his arm, but we’ll see where things are,” Carlisle said. “I don’t know what his status will be.”
What Carlisle does know is that the 16 turnovers, which led to 20 Milwaukee points, and the 14-of-44 3-point shooting the Mavericks turned in against Milwaukee can’t be repeated against the young and athletic Timberwolves.
“It’s disappointing to lose, but our transgressions in the first half [Friday] led to our demise,” Carlisle said. “It wasn’t the series of plays at the end. It was a wide array of plays at the beginning that got us going in the wrong way, and we’ve got to fix that for [Sunday].”
Nowitzki agreed.
“I think [Friday] showed us that when we just coast, we’re just not good enough against whoever we play,” he said. “If we show up like this [Sunday] we’re going to get waxed.
“We’ve got to start off right, get back on defense, build our defense, and contest every shot like we did in the second half [Friday] and then we should be in good shape.”
Dwain Price: 817-390-7760, @dwainprice
Mavericks at Timberwolves
4 p.m. Sunday, FSSW
This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 8:19 PM with the headline "Dirk Nowitzki looks ahead to tough Mavericks’ schedule."