Dirk fouls out in encore
12:10 AM CST on Thursday, November 5, 2009
NEW ORLEANS – The NBA is the ultimate what-have- you-done lately league.
A day after Dirk Nowitzki's outrageous fourth quarter against Utah, everybody was still talking about it.
Good thing. That way they didn't have to talk about his 4-for-15 shooting and his six personal fouls Wednesday night against New Orleans. Or his streak of 20-point games ending at 29. He finished with just a dozen, or 17 fewer than he had Tuesday – in the fourth quarter.
Hornets 114, Mavs 107 (OT)
Sefko: Dirk fouls out in encore
But although Nowitzki was frustrated by the New Orleans defense, it still couldn't erase that crazy, 29-point fourth quarter he had Tuesday.
Lost amid everybody trying to find adequate words to describe that game was that one of Nowitzki's new wrinkles in his game has gone mostly unnoticed.
"He's just a special player," Carlisle said. "What he did last night, we may not see that again in this league for a lot of years.
"He's gotten better every year. This year, he's made an effort to drive the ball more to his right. He's always been a very strong and natural driver left. But he's driving it right more, which I think helps keep defenses honest."