Dirk Nowitzki has been rolling as of late – and so have the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs have now won 5 straight games, with the 31-year old German leading the way. Nowitzki has alreadycome up big for the Mavs in the final quarter; hitting crucial shots and scoring at will.

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Case in point, against Oklahoma City last night, Nowitzki scored 13 of his 35 points in the final 8 minutes as the Mavs outscored the Thunder 29-18 in the final stanza. Dallas would ultimately win the game 100-86.

The Mavs are now 19-7 and are first in the Southwest division.

When a guy is a scoring 25 a game and pulling in 9 rebounds over his last nine years; you kind of take him for granted. I know here at Interbasket, we drool over the next, great international player, the heir to Dirk Nowitzki, but wait a second – Dirk Nowitzki is still playing!

The 7-0 forward has been even more of a scoring machine this year; he’s scored double-figures in every game and is averaging a career-best 26.9 points per game.

“I know you guys talk about Dirk’s scoring, but I think it’s his defense that has got him going.” said Jason Kidd. “People are always going to talk about his offense, but I think right now his defense I think has been the best that I’ve ever seen.”

We have noticed that Nowitzki has been a little more feistier in his twelfth NBA season, putting up a 2.6 combined steals and blocks this season. But let’s not get too crazy, Nowitzki’s offense is his best defense.