Dirk Nowitzki is no longer the Dallas Mavericks’ go-to guy in the clutch, but at least he has a good sense of humor about it.
After Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes hit the game-winner against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, Nowitzki playfully jabbed Barnes for hijacking all the plays the Mavs have been running for him over the years.
“Yeah, he’s stealing all my stuff,” Nowitzki joked, per Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
“Some of the same stuff that we’ve run for me for years, we run for him now,” continued the German. “That high-post [isolation], he’s mastered it. As a go-to guy, you got to have a great midrange game because you’re not going to get an open 3 to win, and you’re not going to get all the way to the basket to win. So you got to be able to create midrange stuff and he’s a master at it.”
Barnes, who is Dallas’ leading scorer this season with 20.6 points per game, hit a Nowitzkian one-legged runner in the lane with 3.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter to snap an 88-88 tie and lift the Mavericks to the upset victory over the Clippers at Staples Center.
As for the 38-year-old Nowitzki, he may be nearing the finish line of his illustrious NBA career, but at least he’s keeping his quote game on fleek all the way until the very end.
