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Mavericks' Nowitzki has eye on next step

DALLAS - The biggest party of Dirk Nowitzki's career was going strong. Teammates, friends and the rest of the 20,000 people who had been screaming "MVP!" since the first quarter were on their feet in appreciation of him and the Dallas Mavericks.

Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks will face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)
Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks will face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)Read more

DALLAS - The biggest party of Dirk Nowitzki's career was going strong. Teammates, friends and the rest of the 20,000 people who had been screaming "MVP!" since the first quarter were on their feet in appreciation of him and the Dallas Mavericks.

And Nowitzki wanted no part of it.

A few minutes into the celebration for winning the Western Conference finals, Nowitzki pried off his new 2011 NBA finals cap and headed to the locker room.

Reaching the NBA Finals no longer qualifies as a big deal to Nowitzki. He's been there before, in 2006. He was the league's MVP in 2007.

As he's made clear on and off the court the last six weeks, all that matters is winning a championship.

"There is no second-place finish in this league," he said. "You get nothing for losing the Finals."

The team doesn't. But Nowitzki will walk away from this postseason with a new reputation regardless of whether the Mavs or Miami Heat are crowned champions.

He is averaging 28.4 points per game in the playoffs, 0.2 behind Kevin Durant for the best overall. He's scored 40 twice, including 48 in the opener of the conference finals.

The real eye-popper is his average of 9.7 points per fourth quarter, the best by anyone in the postseason since 2006 and the best of anyone to get out of the second round since 2003, according to STATS LLC.

No contact for Wade

MIAMI - Heat star Dwyane Wade and reserves Udonis Haslem, Mike Miller and James Jones were held out of contact portions of practice.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says they all will practice fully on Monday.

Miami will host Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Dallas on Tuesday night and Spoelstra says Miami's game plan for the Mavericks is on schedule.

Wade's health was a topic for discussion during the Eastern Conference finals, when he was receiving treatment on his left shoulder.