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For the 12th consecutive season -- and 12th time in his 14-year career -- Dirk Nowitzki has been selected to the All-NBA team. Nowitzki, who statistically did not have a season up to his standards, was still impressive enough to garner a spot on the third team.

It's his third career selection to the All-NBA third team and first since the 2003-04 season. The Dallas Mavericks' all-time scoring leader was a first- or second-team All-NBA selection in each of the past seven seasons.

"It is an honor to make the All-NBA team again,” Nowitzki said in a statement released by the team. "To be named among the best players in this league is always still very humbling for me. I also appreciate the opportunity to represent my teammates and the Mavericks organization on this list."

LeBron James and Kevin Durant were named to the first team at forward, with Kevin Love and Blake Griffin receiving second-team recognition. Carmelo Anthony joined Nowitzki on the third team. Former Mavs center and current New York Knicks star Tyson Chandler was also named to the third team. (complete list is below).

Nowitzki was the NBA’s eighth-leading scorer (21.6 ppg) during the regular season. He and Kobe Bryant are the only two NBA players to be named to an All-NBA team each of the past 12 seasons. Nowitzki remains the only Mavs player in franchise history to be named All-NBA first team (four times: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2008-09).

This season, Nowitzki moved into the top 20 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, surpassing Robert Parish and Charles Barkley for 19^th place. He also ranks third in scoring among active players behind Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

In four postseason games against Oklahoma City , Nowitzki averaged 26.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists in 38.5 minutes.

Despite a down year by his Hall of Fame standards, Dirk Nowitzki got a little love in the MVP voting.

Nowitzki got one fourth-place and one fifth-place vote to finish tied with Russell Westbrook for 12th in the voting, far behind LeBron James, who was named MVP for the third time in four seasons. Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Steve Nash, Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade also finished above Nowitzki.

It’s the lowest Nowitzki has finished in the voting in a decade. He won the MVP in 2007, finished third in 2005 and 2006, sixth in 2011, seventh in 2003 and 2010, eighth in 2002, 10th in 2004 and 2009 and 11th in 2008.

Nowitzki, the reigning Finals MVP, averaged his fewest points (21.6) and rebounds (6.8) since 1999-00.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Dallas sixth man Jason Terry picked right up where he left off in last season’s playoffs: shooting the ball well and making bold promises.

Terry scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the Mavericks’ Game 1 loss Saturday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Terry, who prides himself on being a clutch performer, was shut down by Russell Westbrook in the fourth quarter.

Not only did Terry go scoreless in the fourth quarter, he hardly touched the ball. He attempted only one shot despite his sizzling shooting up to that point.

“Doesn’t even matter,” Terry said after the Mavs’ practice Sunday. “I bet I get touches this next fourth quarter. I will. That’s all I can tell you. I can’t tell you other than that. And you know when I say it, it’s going to happen.”

Terry carries that kind of credibility after he backed up his big words against the Miami Heat in last season’s NBA Finals.

After being shut out in the fourth quarter of the Mavs’ Games 1 and 3 losses, Terry’s response was to puff out his chest and challenge LeBron James, who the Heat used to defend Dirk Nowitzki’s closing sidekick in crunch time.

“Let’s see him do that for seven games,” Terry said the day before Game 4.

The rest of the story is part of Mavs lore. Terry scored eight points in the fourth quarter of a comeback win in Game 4. He had eight points in the final 3:23 of the Game 5, including a game-tying 3 and a deep dagger over James. And Terry scored a game-high 27 points in the clinching Game 6.

If Terry talks the talk and walks the walk against King James, you think he’s going to back down from Westbrook?

“Whoever they throw, it doesn’t matter,” Terry said. “We’ll have success.”

Of course, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The Mavs spent significant time during Saturday’s film session discussing how to get Terry free if the ridiculously quick Westbrook continues denying him all over the floor during crunch time.

“I can do some things to get Jet a little more involved,” said coach Rick Carlisle, who mentioned that the Mavs need to have better balance instead of just going to Nowitzki every possession down the stretch.

“We have to figure out different ways to get Jet in different positions to get the ball to be successful,” point guard Jason Kidd said. “We expect to see that tomorrow. Hopefully we can get him in the right spot and hopefully he’s still hot. He had a great game, and it was our fault that we couldn’t get him the ball in that fourth quarter.”

Westbrook had a lot to do with it, too. Terry promises that won’t be a trend.

DALLAS – There is no crunch-time controversy at small forward.

No ranting about feeling like a rag doll.

No issue at all with Vince Carter playing every second of the fourth quarters (and three overtimes) in the last two games while starter Shawn Marion watched from the bench.

“We’re trying to win games right now,” Marion said. “They had a good rhythm going. I think that’s all it was.”

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was similarly dismissive to a question on the subject: “You guys are making too much of this. It’s not a big deal. It’s not a big deal.”

It’s not a big deal because Marion isn’t sweating it. Especially not after Carter played a critical role in Wednesday’s comeback win over the Rockets, scoring seven of his season-high 23 points in the fourth quarter.

“They had everything going and coach didn’t want to change it up,” Marion said. “That’s OK. It’s a matter sometimes of circumstances and the way the game is going.”

It’s also not a big deal because it isn’t likely to last long enough to become a trend. The Mavs probably won’t be able to afford to have Marion serving as a spectator when the game is on the line during the playoffs.

Maybe the Mavs can get away with it against the Clippers. But that’s about it among teams that they’ll see in the Western Conference playoffs.

PODCAST
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle dishes on the state of his team now that they've clinched a playoff spot. He also talks about Delonte West's "West willy" and why he's gone with Vince Carter over Shawn Marion in the last couple of games. Listen

They’ll need the man they’ve campaigned for as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate during crunch time against the other three teams they could face in the first round. All due respect to Carter, but it’s asking for disaster to give him the defensive assignment on Manu Ginobili, Kevin Durant or Kobe Bryant with a playoff game on the line.

A case can be made for using Carter in crunch time. He has a history of hitting big shots and ranks in a class with Kobe Bryant and a couple of teammates (Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry) among active players with the most career buckets in fourth quarters. His perimeter shooting spaces the floor, and his ability to create puts another offensive initiator on the floor for the Mavs.

However, there’s a shiny gold trophy in the case (or Mark Cuban’s kitchen) that gives credibility to Marion’s importance on the closing unit.

The Mavs’ miracle comebacks over the Thunder and Heat would have been impossible without the Matrix’s lockdown defense on Durant and LeBron James. He was a critical component for the best closing team in basketball last season.

For whatever reason, the Mavs have been mediocre closers this season. If Marion isn’t part of the solution, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Mavs will be making tee times in mid-May.

Shawn Marion pulled down a power forward-like 14 rebounds Tuesday night. Down the final stretch, more of those rebounds might actually come from the power forward spot.

Marion, averaging 11.0 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds at small forward, had relinquished his power forward duties from last season because Lamar Odom was here to suck up minutes. It turned out he just sapped energy, and now he's gone.

With Brandan Wright, who coach Rick Carlisle prefers at center, Yi Jianlian and Brian Cardinal as the other options to back up Dirk Nowitzki, Marion is expected to slide over to the 4 more as he did so smoothly last season.

"I told him just now after (Tuesday's) game, we gave him a light night minutes-wise to get ready for this trip and we all know he’s a big difference-maker for us," Carlisle said. "And he doesn’t do it necessarily in a conventional way and that’s one of the things that’s made him a special player for us."

A 6-foot-7, Marion is not a typical power forward, but then again there was nothing typical about a small forward chasing around point guards like Chris Paul. A Defensive Player of the Year candidate, Marion said he doesn't care what position he's asked to play. In the Matrix's world, a position is only a number.

"It’s cool to get some minutes there," Marion said. "I really haven’t been there much this season because how deep we’ve been at the position. I’m a basketball player, so you can put me anywhere out there and I’ll find a way to make it happen."

Marion was obviously one of the more valuable contributors during the championship run because of the defense he played against a variety of offensive weapons, including Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Without Odom, Marion might see his minutes spike as the Mavs begin a four-game road trip over five nights. They face Golden State on Thursday and Portland on Friday before Marion will meet Kobe and the Lakers for a nationally televised game on ABC.

Marion missed the last meeting in Dallas, a 16-point L.A. win in which Kobe went for 30. Bryant had averaged 14.5 points in the first two games against Marion.

He's averaged the third most minutes on the team at 30.7, one of the few from last season's title team whose playing time has gone up from a year ago. Now those minutes might get sliced up a bit more like last season, too.

"Like I said, I’m a basketball player," Marion said. "You put me in there and I get enough minutes at it, enough to get comfortable and know the situations, I’m good to go."

Jason Terry could see himself taking his talents to South Beach next season.

Then again, Terry could envision himself calling any NBA city home next season, as he’s already admitted that he feels like he’s “auditioning for 29 other teams” during the final months of his contract with the Mavericks. However, Terry indicated to Fox Sports Florida before Thursday night’s loss in Miami that the Heat are an especially intriguing potential option.

"Miami is definitely a title contender. For sure," Terry told the website when asked whether he’d be interested in joining the Heat. "[Team president] Pat Riley is a great guy, and what he's done with the organization is tremendous.

"No question, they need a veteran shooter, a guy who can score besides LeBron [James] and [Dwyane Wade] and they know they can count on. I'm a guy that's been in this league 13 years, (averaging) 15 points a night, easy. Off the bench or the starting lineup, it doesn't matter. So I think I'd be an asset to them."

Terry didn’t exactly ace this job interview. Wearing gold shoes to celebrate the title the Mavs clinched in Miami last summer, Terry had his worst shooting performance of the season, missing nine of 10 field goal attempts during a three-point performance.

Terry had his request for a preseason contract extension fall on deaf ears. He is dealing with the reality that his dream of retiring in Dallas isn’t likely to happen.

"My main goal was to come back and retire a Maverick," Terry told the website. "After no extension this past offseason, I figure it may be time for me to move on. But you never know… I would love to (continue) in a Maverick uniform, don't get me wrong. But we'll see what happens. …

“They said they want me back. But you can say all you want, you got to show me. Like Jerry Maguire said, 'Show me the money."'

The Heat won’t have a lot of money to show Terry this summer. Miami has three stars (James, Wade and Chris Bosh) locked up to lucrative, long-term deals, leaving the Heat without any space under the salary cap. The most Miami would have to offer Terry is the mini-midlevel exception of $3 million per season, a huge cut from the $11.2 million salary Terry is making in the final season of his six-year, $57 million contract.

That might present a problem, but Terry said he’ll see what the market dictates and didn’t rule out being involved in a sign-and-trade deal. One thing that wouldn’t be an issue for Terry is joining a franchise that he faced in heated Finals in 2006 and last season.

"Not at all," Terry told Fox Sports Florida. "That jersey has a logo on it. It says, 'NBA.' No matter what team it is, it doesn't matter. So I'll be excited."

MIAMI -- It has been more than three months since the Miami Heat humiliated the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas Day.

Rick Carlisle knows exactly why it happened.

And it had nothing to do with revenge. Or a championship hangover. Or Dwyane Wade and LeBron James playing with more focus.

The Heat blew out the Mavs because Dallas turned the ball over. Time and time and time again.

“We had eight turnovers in the first quarter,” Carlisle said, “and we had three more quick turnovers to start the second half and we were down by 30.”

So to beat Miami on Thursday night, the Mavs can’t exceed their season average of 14.1 turnovers per game, which is tied for eighth in the NBA. Just so you know, the Mavs are 16-8 when they have fewer turnovers than their opponents, and 7-10 when they have more turnovers.

Dallas is 3-8 on the road when it has more turnovers than its opponent. See, this isn’t complicated.

“We have to protect the ball,” Jason Kidd said. “We can’t have turnovers because those guys will turn into beasts. They’ll be running and dunking. They feed off turnovers.”

On Christmas Day, Miami had 25 points off turnovers and scored 31 fastbreak points. That remains the most fastbreak points the Mavs have yielded this season.

The Heat have lost consecutive games by a total of 31 points. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Miami has spent the past two days working on nothing but defense.

“We have to get back to our identity,” Spoelstra said. “The ability to defend with incredible activity and energy is what leads to deflections and stops and fastbreaks. It energizes us.”

No matter what Rick Carlisle wants to say, this isn’t just one of 15 games left on the Mavs’ regular-season schedule.

Jason Terry doesn’t just bust out the gold Reeboks for any game.

This is a chance for the Mavericks to make a statement, to let the rest of the NBA know that they’re going to have a legitimate shot to repeat as NBA champions. This Finals rematch is also a chance to get a little revenge after the Heat ruined the Mavs’ Christmas by dominating Dallas after the championship banner was raised to the American Airlines Center rafters before the season opener.

It’s also an opportunity for the Mavs to get right on the road. They’re only 10-14 away from the AAC this season after having the best road record in the league the last two seasons.

Records: Mavs (29-22); Heat (35-13)

When: 7 p.m.

Where: AmericanAirlines Arena

TV: TNT

Radio: ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: Can the Mavs keep the Miami offense from rediscovering its rhythm? The Heat have looked horrible while losing the last two games by double digits. Miami committed a total of 38 turnovers in the losses to the Thunder and Pacers. The Mavs let the Heat get in the open floor way too often and way too easily in the season-opening embarrassment, giving up 31 fast-break points to Miami in that game. The Mavs have to make the Heat play a grind-it-out, halfcourt game.

Key matchup: Shawn Marion vs. LeBron James -- All the criticism of James’ clutch failures in the Finals overlooks the fact that Marion’s defense was a major factor, just as it was against Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant in the previous series. This is the kind of game that could help Marion make a serious case for Defensive Player of the Year consideration. Then again, LeBron got the best of Marion the last time the Heat and Mavs met, scoring 37 points on 11-of-19 shooting in the season-opening blowout.

Injuries: Mavs -- C Brendan Haywood (sprained right ankle) expects to return Friday night vs. Orlando; G Delonte West (fractured right ring finger) is questionable. Heat -- SF LeBron James (dislocated finger) is probable; G/F Mike Miller (sprained ankle) is out.

Up next: Mavs at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. Friday

DALLAS -- The NBA has issued the Defensive Player of the Year award since the 1982-83 season. In the 1988-89 season the league might as well have renamed it the Defensive Big Man of the Year award.

Five of the six first winners were guards as diminutive as 6-foot-3 Sidney Moncrief, who won the first two. But when 7-foot-4 Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton, the only big man to sneak in during those first six seasons, won it again in '89, it started a run in which a power forward or center won it in 21 of the next 23 seasons. A center has won it 17 times and in 13 of the last 15 seasons.

The lone small forward ever to be named Defensive Player of the Year was the formerly named Ron Artest on Rick Carlisle's 2003-04 Indiana Pacers.

Is a second one lurking?

The Dallas Mavericks certainly think so. Owner Mark Cuban has trumpeted the tireless work of 6-foot-7 veteran Shawn Marion for more than a month. Carlisle has not been far behind. On Friday night, with Marion missing his third and final game with a sore left knee likely caused to a large degree by his maxed-out defensive responsibilities, Carlisle said Marion is "probably the Defensive Player of the Year this year."

On Monday, Carlisle upped the ante: "I think he’s a frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year because of his versatility and because of his impact on our team. We lose [Tyson] Chandler and we’re still the No. 1 defensive team in the Western Conference on points per possession. That doesn’t happen without Marion and what he’s doing guarding multiple positions."

The operative word is "multiple." Marion has always been the man to defend top opposing wings like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. This season, particularly when guard Delonte West was lost to a fractured finger on Feb. 15, Marion became Mr. Everything to a defense that had already lost its heart and soul from the championship team in Chandler -- the third-place finisher in last season's DPOY voting -- and plugged in newcomers and somehow just kept on ticking.

"We’re the No. 1 defensive team in the Western Conference largely because of how he’s guarded guys individually," Carlisle said. "He always has the best player, and a lot of times he’ll have a guy like [Ty] Lawson or like [Goran] Dragic, who’s a key guy not only scoring, but getting other guys involved. He’s just been phenomenal."

During the stretch from West's injury to the All-Star break, the 33-year-old Marion was tasked with chasing, in order: Lawson, Ricky Rubio, 6-foot-11 power forward and All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Paul, Lawson again, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams, Jeremy Lin, Paul Pierce and finally Kobe Bryant.

And throughout this physically demanding shortended season, Marion's assignments read like an NBA who's who list, from Deron Williams and Steve Nash to Paul Millsap and Michael Beasley; from Manu Ginobili and Russell Westbrook to Caron Butler and Carmelo Anthony.

Of all those offensive weapons, advanced analytics, which make it possible to break down matchups possession by possession, tell us that Marion's opponents have shot 34 percent against him.

Take Kobe as just one example. In two games, Marion held the league's leading scorer to an average of 14.5 points on less than 28 percent shooting. In last Wednesday's game against the Lakers in which Marion's knee kept him out, Kobe hit for 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting (61.1 percent).

On Monday, Marion mostly deflected credit while processing his coach's praise.

"That speaks a lot about me and my teammates because it’s not just one person out there, it’s all of us collectively," Marion said. "So, hey, I’m just doing what I got to do to help the team the best way I can."

Marion's performance this season might be the closest thing to former Seattle guard Gary Payton, the only other non-big man to win the award in 1995-96. Payton, like Marion, could seemingly bounce from defending either guard position to either forward position without flinching. Remarkably, Marion's presence has made the Mavs' five-man unit -- and all-30-somethings -- that includes Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Brendan Haywood the No. 1 defensive lineup in the league.

Of course, it's easy to understand why power forwards, and particularly centers, have dominated this award. Blocked shots and rebounding and team scoring averages are in your face to see and tally up and measure against other players and teams. While clearly centers can be great defenders -- and there's a long list of them -- so much of a center's job comes in the form of help defense and not the grinding, every possession work of a mano-a-mano, on-ball defensive stopper such as Marion.

"It is what it is," Marion said. "It’s sad sometimes that people don’t really sit back and really look at what you’re doing sometimes. But it is what it is. I just got to continue to do what I got to do."

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard leads the NBA in rebounds (14.8 per game) and is tied for second in total blocked shots with 108, numbers that dwarf Marion's 6.9 rebounds and 26 blocked shots, and the Magic rank fourth in the NBA in scoring defense. A massive, 6-foot-11 specimen who patrols the paint with humbling ferocity, Howard is a leading candidate to win the award for a fourth consecutive season. Only Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo lay claim to four trophies, but neither did it four years in a row.

Marion has never even been selected to an all-defensive team, although he probably should have been at some point during his eight full seasons playing on those high-powered Phoenix Suns squads.

"At the time where I was doing it before, we scored so many damn points, didn’t nobody care," Marion said. "They wanted to focus on something else."

Marion's defensive run with Dallas really started last season and began to gain recognition during the playoffs when he bounced from Gerald Wallace, Brandon Roy and Aldridge to Kobe to Westbrook and Durant and finally to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

So maybe if Marion's capable of continuing this level of 'D' for another 16 games, just maybe the focus will turn to a small forward doing one big defensive job.

"It’s what it’s about," Marion said of being in the DPOY conversation. "Everybody’s got personal goals that you want to accomplish throughout your career and legacies that you want to leave behind. I think that would definitely be a great piece to it."

DALLAS – Two words immediately come to Rick Carlisle’s mind when he thinks of DeShawn Stevenson, who will become the latest ex-Maverick to receive his championship ring Tuesday night.

“Ultimate pro.”

That’s not exactly how Stevenson was perceived when he arrived in Dallas as a throw-in with Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood in the 2010 All-Star break blockbuster deal with the Wizards. At the time, well, folks didn’t know quite what to think of the two guard with tattoos from his forehead to his feet.

There was a strong suspicion that Stevenson, whose claim to fame had been a high-profile playoff trash-talk war with LeBron James, was a wee bit crazy. That turned into an appreciation around these parts for Stevenson’s unique personality after he played the biggest role of any of the ex-Wizards in the Mavericks’ first title.

“I had a bad rap of being a loose cannon,” Stevenson said Monday night after the Nets’ practice at SMU. “I think it’s a different type of crazy. It’s a crazy where I’m going to go out there and fight for my teammates and do the right thing. I’m kind of misunderstood, but that’s what I try to do and I won a championship doing it.”

Stevenson’s style and work ethic earned him immense respect in the Mavericks’ locker room.

The Mavs’ veteran leadership trio of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry twice lobbied Carlisle to insert Stevenson into the starting lineup. Carlisle listened on both occasions, once near the beginning of the season and the second time just before the playoffs began.

The Dallas vets embraced the nasty tone that Stevenson, who usually got the most difficult defensive assignment among the opposing guards and small forwards, set along with big man Tyson Chandler.

“Just a tough, tough guy that we miss,” Nowitzki said. “I’m happy for him that he gets his ring and he’s going to get a standing ovation. He brought a toughness and grittiness to our club last year that we needed.”

In between his successful stints as the starting lineup’s defensive stopper, Stevenson fell out of the rotation while his minutes went to Rodrigue Beaubois. Stevenson never complained, continuing to prepare the same way, a persistence that paid off in the playoffs.

Stevenson’s professionalism was never more apparent than Game 4 of the NBA Finals. After Stevenson started the first 18 games of the postseason, Carlisle decided to replace him in the lineup with J.J. Barea, in part because the Mavs wanted to make sure that Shawn Marion or Stevenson was always available to defend James.

Instead of pouting about a perceived demotion, Stevenson responded with his best performance of the playoffs. Stevenson outscored his old adversary LeBron, 11-8, playing lockdown defense and knocking down three 3-pointers.

“He kept himself ready and always answered the bell,” Carlisle said. “Always.”

Stevenson was ready to return to Dallas for the repeat attempt. However, he said he felt like he had done too much with the Mavericks to accept an offer for the minimum salary and moved on by signing a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Nets.

Stevenson will return to the American Airlines Center with mixed emotions. He looks forward to finally seeing the championship banner and getting his ring. (He’s seen plenty of pictures of the 31-diamond spectacles, including one fellow free agent departure J.J. Barea texted him the night of the ring ceremony.)

But Stevenson admits that he wishes he could stay in Dallas and move back into the locker now occupied by Delonte West.

“We just had a special team,” Stevenson said. “It’s just sad how it went down. It’s tough. It’s the business part, but I’m always a Mavericks guy until the day I die.”

A six-pack of statistical nuggets to help get you reacquainted with the Mavericks as they return to work after All-Star Weekend:

*Steve Nash was back at Dirk Nowitzki’s side during Sunday night’s All-Star Game, but Nash is no longer in the top five in terms of regular-season games played as a Dirk teammate. Jason Terry has played 559 regular-season games alongside Nowitzki for the Mavs, followed by Michael Finley (471), Shawn Bradley (467), Erick Dampier (412) and Josh Howard (411).

*Nowitzki’s run of 11 consecutive All-Star selections is the second-longest active streak in the league. After Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan saw their respective runs of 14 and 13 end over the weekend, Dirk trails only Kobe Bryant’s 14 straight All-Star trips among active players. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are next in line with eight straight All-Star trips.

*The Mavericks shot 46 percent from the 3-point line in their four-game playoff sweep of the Lakers. In this season’s two meetings? Dallas is shooting just 20.7 percent from long range against L.A.

*The loss to the Lakers in their final game before the All-Star break was the Mavs’ first this season in which they held a fourth-quarter lead at home. That leaves Chicago, Indiana and Oklahoma City as the only teams that haven’t lost at home after leading in the fourth quarter this season.

*Last Wednesday’s game was Kobe Bryant’s 52nd regular-season appearance against Dallas, breaking Bryant’s tie with James Worthy (51) for the most games against Dallas for any Laker.

*The Mavs still narrowly rank as the league’s second-oldest team with an average age of 30.0 … just behind Atlanta’s average age of 30.2.

It's been one heck of a two-month start into this shortened, hyper-speed season for Dirk Nowitzki.

First he had to digest the fact that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was not bringing the championship team back intact, first and foremost Tyson Chandler. The 7-foot-1 center proved to be the perfect complement to Nowitzki on and off the floor. A week ago, the two surely reminisced over dinner in the Big Apple.

Then there was Nowitzki's conditioning issues coming off a whirlwind and then lockout-extended offseason. He took four games off specifically to work behind the scenes to build up strength in his bothersome right knee, an unprecedented scenario (and perhaps a slightly embarrassing one) for the ultra-durable Nowitzki. His production had plummeted, with more single-digit scoring games coming in one month's time than anyone could recall over his career, and Nowitzki was the first to say that he wasn't deserving of an 11th consecutive selection as a reserve to the Western Conference All-Star team.

The Western Conference coaches disagreed. And for good reason.

The NBA Finals MVP is back on his game and he'll be ready for duty in tonight's All-Star Game in Orlando.

But, things did get dicey. Three games back from his personal training camp in late January -- working relentlessly with head athletic trainer Casey Smith in the weight room and running sprints the length of the court after practices, all designed to bolster lower-body strength -- Nowitzki bottomed out on Feb. 1 with a 2-of-15 shooting struggle for eight points in a loss to Oklahoma City.

His scoring average scraped a season-low 16.2 points a game, a mark he hadn't touched since his rookie season. His shooting percentages were also at career-low levels and his 3-point shooting -- coming off an 0-for-5 in that game -- was on life support in the high teens.

"This is really the first time in my career that I’ve really had some wear and tear going," Nowitzki said. "I’ve been in this league for 14 years now and it’s been a smooth ride basically with no major injuries. This year, having no time to prepare, starting five or six games a week with basically no training camp, my knees weren’t ready for it. They were starting to swell up. I basically had swelling in the knee for the first four or five weeks."

Still, after that loss to the Thunder, Nowitzki said all the grueling work was paying off, he could feel it. The swelling that slowed his progress early had diminished. A breakthrough, he believed, was nearing.

In the 11 games since, Nowitzki has averaged 25.4 points, with three games of 30 or more and six of 25 or more, while shooting 48.5 percent (100-of-206). He's averaged 8.4 rebounds and has three double-doubles in his last four games.

Add a list of career milestones -- he moved up from No. 24 to No. 20 on the NBA's all-time scoring list, recorded his 1,000th career 3-pointer, 1,000th career block and 1,000th career game -- and the first half of the season might have at times seemed bad, but certainly never boring.

With Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan ending long All-Star Game streaks, only Kobe Bryant has played in more. Time keeps ticking, but Father Time still has a way to go to catch up to the Mavs' big German.

Here's Nowitzki in his own words:

Q: What are you able to do now that you could not do before taking taking the four games off?
A: Coming from that week, it got better and better. I feel good now. I move a lot better. At the beginning of the season I was basically a spot-up shooter. If I didn’t have it, I couldn’t make a move. I wasn’t explosive enough. Now I’m able to put the ball on the floor again, post some and do all the stuff basically I was doing last year. I feel good. It was a long stretch. I didn’t feel like it was going to take me five or six weeks to get back where I was, but it is what it is.

Q: Your one-legged jumper has been the talk of the NBA since last postseason. Now Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant have their own versions. How did you develop that shot?
A: I actually think that one-legged step-away came in the games. I don’t think Holger [Geschwindner] ever worked on that. That’s just something that helped me create a little space. Sometimes the defenders are so up close on me and they’re usually smaller and quicker, so for me, it’s a way to just get a little separation and a good look at the basket. But that’s not really a shot that we work on.

Q: Lamar Odom has not lived up to expectations in Dallas. Flashes have typically been followed by fall-backs. Are you concerned that Odom will not emerge as a significant contributor to a title defense?
A: He’s a work in progress, as well. He’s another older, veteran guy that needed more than two weeks of training camp. We’ve all been working hard to get back to where we were, and he’s been doing the same thing. He’s been coming in early, getting shots up and trying to get back to where he was last season. I still like what he brings to the team. He’s a versatile defender who can defend a lot of positions and get rebounds. Offensively, he can put the ball on the floor and spot-up jump shoot once in a while and post-ups. I think we can put him in a lot of positions. He’ll be fine. Especially down the stretch, I think he’s going to get better and better.

Q: At 21-13 at the All-Star break and 32 games left, do you like how the Mavs are positioned?
A: I actually said in December and January, I think our team is set up to peak later. Like I said, a bunch of older guys, it took us a while to get going. We’re going to get better from month to month and hopefully peak like we did last year in the playoffs and play our best basketball then. There were better players, better individual players. Even in the Finals, they had [Dwyane] Wade and LeBron [James], but we were the better team. We fought for each other.

DALLAS – Good news, NBA officials: Mark Cuban has found another subject he’s deemed worthy of a crusade.

Cuban can’t believe small forward Shawn Marion, the swiss-army knife of the Dallas Mavericks’ defense, has never earned all-defense team recognition and is determined to do everything within his power to end that streak in the Matrix’s 13th NBA season.

Actually, Cuban won’t be satisfied unless Marion gets serious consideration as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

“It’s not a question if he’s first team,” Cuban said during his pregame stairmaster workout Monday evening. “The only question is, outside of the center position like a Dwight Howard, is he Defensive Player of the Year? I mean, it’s hard to overlook how Dwight Howard plays defensively, but beyond that, who’s better?

“Name one.”

While you’re thinking of an answer, consider the impact Marion made in the Mavericks’ 96-92 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the league’s most explosive teams. And Marion’s 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting were an afterthought.

The 6-foot-7 Marion guarded three different positions during the game, most notably doing a tremendous job containing All-Star point guard Chris Paul, much like Marion did against rookie sensation Ricky Rubio in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves a few nights before.

Most of Paul’s 16 points and nine assists came when he wasn’t being guarded by Marion. In the final 5:13, Marion held Paul to one bucket -- a falling-away 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining -- and one assist.

Marion also created two critical turnovers in the final two minutes as a help defender. He played the passing lanes perfectly to pick off a Blake Griffin pass and swiped the ball from Kenyon Martin as he slashed to the hoop.

Add this night to the list of phenomenal defensive performances by Marion. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watched the Mavs’ magical championship run, when Marion spearheaded excellent defensive efforts against the NBA’s three most dangerous scorers: the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Miami’s LeBron James.

“I’m a competitor,” Marion said. “I’m built a different way. I have this inner dog in me that I feel like a lot of people don’t have. I’m just going to bring it like that. That’s how I come.”

It’s one thing to come like that against wing players. It’s something else to do while chasing the league’s premier pick-and-roll initiator all over the court, even with the Mavs’ bigs doing a commendable job showing on those pick-and-rolls. And Marion occasionally takes turns against high-scoring power forwards, too.

How many players can guard premier power forwards and point guards?

“Marion is the only guy who comes to mind,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, who has the freedom to start the offensively efficient geezer guard combo of Jason Kidd and Vince Carter because of Marion’s defensive versatility. “This is one of the unique weapons we have on our team.”

Added Dirk Nowitzki: “He’s our best defender. We stick him on 1, 2, 3, 4. He’s been phenomenal for us every since he got here. He’s still fast on his feet, he’s long, he’s strong, he’s got great, great hands on the ball. We stick him usually on the best player and he did a phenomenal job for us again tonight.”

Back to Cuban’s question: The wings widely considered better defenders than Marion include Bryant, James, Memphis’ Tony Allen and Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala. They got the spots on the first- and second- all-defense team last season.

Kobe has been a first-team selection nine times, including the last six seasons. LeBron has been voted a first-teamer the last few years.

“I’m just telling you what the reality is right now,” Cuban said. “There’s nobody who’s better defensively outside the center position than Shawn Marion.”

The Matrix backed up his billionaire owner’s bold talk against the Clippers.

LOS ANGELES -- Mark Cuban made a good point the other night about how useless stats can be this season because of the nature of the schedule.

Take Wednesday night for instance when the Dallas Mavericks will play the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. How much stock can be put into stats compiled by the Mavs or Clippers in a game in which Dallas will come in after a day off in L.A., while the Clippers will be playing for a third consecutive night and coming off a road game the previous night?

"I think what people are going to overemphasize are individual game stats," Cuban said, "which in this type of season are not only misleading, but misrepresentative of contribution."

Now, take Monday's game and there's simply no way to ignore what Kobe Bryant is doing this season and, in particular, over the past four games, even if all four of the Lakers' opponents were playing the last game of a back-to-back-to-back, which they weren't.

Kobe, playing with a torn wrist ligament sustained in the preseason, is averaging a league-best 32.0 points a game, 2.5 points a game more than LeBron James. And he's blowing away the rest of the field with Kevin Durant ranking third in scoring at 25.8 points a game.

In his last four games, Kobe has scored 42, 42, 40 and 48 points and the Lakers have won five of six since starting 4-4. He also has games of 39, 30 and 37 that came in succession.

There is no doubt what Kobe's contribution is meaning to a Lakers team in transition.

Records: Mavs (8-5); Lakers (9-5)

When: 9:30 p.m.

Where: Staples Center

TV: TNT

Radio: 103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: All eyes are on Lamar Odom. The forward has struggled since being traded to Dallas. Does playing his former team in front of the star-studded Staples Center bring out his best? The Mavs certainly hope so. They need Odom to have a breakthrough. ... This is a rare game this season where both teams come into a highly anticipated matchup rested. Neither played on Sunday and that should set the stage for a high-intensity game.

Key matchup: Kobe Bryant vs. Shawn Marion/Jason Kidd
This could easily be Andrew Bynum vs. Brendan Haywood, but Kobe's numbers of late put him at the top of any key matchup. Marion's last big assignment was Milwaukee's Stephen Jackson, who came to Dallas after scoring a season-high 34 points and then 25 points in consecutive games. He left Dallas with seven points in a blowout loss. Marion defended Bryant well during the playoff sweep and Kidd gave Bryant fits with his late-game defense. There isn't a hotter player in the league and he'll give Dallas' improving team defense and major challenge.

Injuries: Mavs – None. Lakers – G Steve Blake (costochaondral fracture) is out; F Derrick Caracter (knee) is out.

Up next: Mavs at Los Angeles Clippers, 9:30 p.m., Wednesday

Dirk Nowitzki spent the early stages of his career as a 7-foot decoy when the game was on the line, preferring to defer to Michael Finley and Steve Nash in such situations.

A strong case can now be made that there’s no better clutch player in the NBA.

Nowitzki’s and-1 drive to beat the Boston Celtics was his 30th career game-winning bucket in the final 24 seconds of a game, according to ESPN Stats and Information research. That includes three drives for layups in the Mavs’ last 10 victories, including a couple in the NBA Finals.

“It’s a fun situation to be in,” Nowitzki said.

The only active players with more game-winners than Nowitzki are Kobe Bryant and new teammate Vince Carter, neither of whom has been nearly as efficient with the clock ticking down and the outcome in doubt.

A few more noteworthy items from the Mavs’ gritty win in Beantown:

1. The 16-point performance was actually Dirk’s lowest-scoring output in Boston during his career. The Celtics killer had averaged 27.8 points in his previous 12 trips to Boston. Nine of Nowitzki’s 16 points came during the fourth quarter.

2. Jason Terry scored seven points in the final 3:15. That’s far from surprising from the sixth man who has long served as Dirk’s scoring sidekick. There are seven players who have ranked among the league’s top 25 in clutch points per minutes in four full seasons that 82games.com has tracked the statistic: Bryant, Nowitzki, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Manu Ginobili, Dwyane Wade and Terry.

3. The Mavs are a pretty good bet in games that go down to the wire. This win improved their record in games decided by three or fewer points to 30-13 in regular seasons under coach Rick Carlisle. No team has more wins in such games in that span. The Mavs have ranked second in the NBA in three-points-or-fewer victories in each of the last three seasons, but this was their first of this campaign.