No one knows for certain if this is, indeed, going to be Dirk Nowitzki’s final season in the NBA. He’s deferred questions about it until the offseason, he’s 40, and there’s a whole lot of miles on those wheels, but Nowitzki has also left the door open for a return. One thing is for certain: Dirk and the Dallas Mavericks walked into Oracle Arena on Saturday night and beat the hell out of the Golden State Warriors.
The Mavericks picked up a stunning 126-91 road victory over the best team in the Western Conference. While the game was played without Steph Curry, no one could have predicted that kind of a loss for the two-time defending champs. Then again, no one could have predicted that Nowitzki would turn back the clock, going for a season-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and a 5-for-8 clip from deep.
Dirk dropped 21 PTS and hit 5 threes tonight at Oracle. 🔥🐐#MFFL pic.twitter.com/theC8qfFEc
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 24, 2019
Luka Doncic had a huge night — 23 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists — but the story of the evening was Nowitzki, who made more threes than the entire Warriors team. With the scoring output, Germany’s best basketball export joined an historic group.
https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/1109643580799442944
Additionally, it’s been a long, long time since Golden State got thrashed in their building like this. For the last time it happened, you have to go back to when Nowitzki dropping 21 points in a game was an off evening for him.
The @dallasmavs beat the Warriors by 35 points, Golden State's largest home loss since 2007. pic.twitter.com/VEABgBwjrv
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 24, 2019
So what was the reason for the big night? Perhaps it was because he had a little added motivation in the crowd in the form of an old pal who is currently a consultant for the Dubs.
"I think he's havin' a flashback so we might wanna guard him tonight!" 😂 @SteveNash shouts out his old buddy Dirk! https://t.co/yTv3whZrGC
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 24, 2019
We’ll see what the future holds when the offseason rolls around, but regardless, Dirk will forever be the man.