Dallas Mavericks
The NBA announced today that Dirk Nowitzki was named a reserve for the Western Conference All-Star team. This year’s All-Star Weekend will take place in Denver from February 18-20 with the main event being held that Sunday night.
Nowitzki has been named a Western Conference reserve in each of the past four seasons. He is now tied with Rolando Blackman for the most All-Star appearances in franchise history. In three previous All-Star outings, Nowitzki has averaged 7.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. The Western Conference has won all three games in which Nowitzki has played.
This season, Nowitzki has been playing at a MVP-caliber level. He is third in the league in scoring, averaging a career-high 26.8 points per game. Nowitzki is also 10th in the NBA in rebounding (9.9 rpg), 23rd in 3-point percentage (40.0%), 26th in free throw percentage (85.4%), tied for 27th in steals (1.33 spg), 21st in blocks (1.58 bpg), tied for 10th in minutes played (39.5 mpg) and 11th in double-doubles (23). Nowitzki has already scored 30 or more points 16 times this season after doing so just 12 times in 2003-04. On December 2, vs. Houston, he scored 53 points in an overtime win. The 53 points set a Mavericks franchise-high, an American Airlines Center high, and a career-high. That performance helped earn him Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, November 29 through Sunday, December 5. Nowitzki would later be named Western Conference Player of the Month for December.
Already one of just seven players (Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O’Neal) to be named to an All-NBA Team in each of the past four seasons, Nowitzki has made several improvements to his game in 2004-05. He is one of three players (Kevin Garnett and Shawn Marion) who rank in the top 30 in both steals per game and blocks per game. Nowitzki also ranks fifth in the NBA in free throw attempts and is averaging 9.3 per game, up from an average on 5.5 last season.
Earlier this month, the NBA announced the roster for the got milk? Rookie Challenge. Guard Devin Harris was named to the Rookie Team while forward Josh Howard made the Sophomore Team. The Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers are the only teams to feature a player on both the Rookie and Sophomore Teams as well as having a representative in the All-Star game.