Dirk Nowitski consistently improved his game and made his first All-Star Game appearance in the 2001-02 season. During the 2003-04 season, he suffered from several ankle injuries, yet still managed to make the top ten list of NBA scorers, with an average of 21.8 points per game. In fact, the Mavericks' depressing five-game loss to the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs was highlighted only by Nowitski's game play, where he averaged 26.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for the series. His career high score of 53 points occurred on December 2nd, 2004, versus the Houston Rockets. In the 2004-05 season, though the Mavericks were dropped out of the playoffs after losing the series against the Phoenix Suns, he earned a vote to third place for the league's Most Valuable Player award, behind Steve Nash (former teammate and friend playing for the Suns) and Shaquille O'Neal. His stats for the regular season were a whopping 26.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. Nowitski is the first player in history to be elected to the first team All-NBA who did not attend high school or college in the United States. He holds a franchise record for the most consecutive free-throws made, totaling 60. Dirk is a legitimate MVP candidate here in the 2006 season. |
