Dallas' Nowitzki wants it all

DALLAS (AP):

The biggest party of Dirk Nowitzki's career was going strong. Teammates, friends and the rest of the 20,000 people who had been screaming "M! V! P!'' since the first quarter were on their feet in appreciation of him and the Dallas Mavericks.

And Nowitzki wanted no part of it.

A few minutes into the celebration for winning the Western Conference finals, Nowitzki pried off his new 2011 NBA finals cap and headed to the locker room.

Reaching the NBA finals no longer qualifies as a big deal to Nowitzki. He's been there before, in 2006. He was the league's MVP in 2007. He carried Germany's flag into the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics.

As he's made clear on and off the court the last six weeks, all that matters is winning a championship.

"There is no second-place finish in this league,'' he said. "You get nothing for losing the finals.''

Nowitzki is averaging 28.4 points per game in the playoffs, 0.2 behind Kevin Durant for the best overall. He's scored 40 twice, including 48 in the opener of the conference finals.

great average

The real eye-popper is his average of 9.7 points per fourth quarter, the best by anyone in the post-season since 2006 and the best of anyone to get out of the second round since 2003, according to STATS LLC. Among those he trumps are the best by recent NBA finals MVPs Kobe Bryant (9.6), Paul Pierce (9.0) and Dwyane Wade (8.8).

Nowitzki has put to rest the idea he's a seven-footer who shoots three-pointers, but is afraid to mix it up in the paint. You don't average 9.3 free throws per game in the playoffs while hanging out behind the arc.

OK, he's still not a shutdown defender. But he's no liability, either. Just ask LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol and Kevin Durant.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra may have framed it best, calling Nowitzki "one of the most unique players in the league because of his size, his skill.'' Spoelstra has a guy named LeBron James who could be described the same way, perhaps setting up some tantalising, late-game action when Dallas has the ball and they are matched against each other.

No contact for Wade

MIAMI (AP):

Heat star Dwyane Wade and reserves Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and James Jones were held out of contact portions of yesterday's practice.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says they all will practice fully today as his team continues to fine-tune for their big clash. Miami hosts game one of the NBA finals against Dallas tomorrow night at the American Airlines Arena.

Spoelstra says the moves were given to ensure that everyone is "healthy going into this". The Heat spent time on drills yesterday and Spoelstra says Miami's installation of a game plan for the Mavericks is on schedule.