Dirk won the Western Conference player of the month award today. Not a huge surprise with the Mavs having a great month, but somehow I didn't completely realize the numbers Dirk had consistently been putting up.
Nowitzki helped Dallas to a 6-2 month, including a perfect 6-0 mark at home, averaging 30.3 points and 8.8 rebounds. Nowitzki finished the season by scoring at least 20 points in each of Dallas' last 25 games, dating back to Feb. 27, the longest such streak in the NBA this season. He finished the season with a career-high-tying 26 30-point games, including five in April. With Dallas' 95-84 win over Houston on April 15, the Mavericks became the fourth team in NBA history to record nine-straight seasons with 50 wins or more.
After reading those numbers, I immediately thought of something John Hollinger said about Tim Duncan in a chat yesterday.
Duncan averaged 20.8 points before the All-Star game, 16.0 after. He had his two worst shooting months in March and April, and his two worst assist months, and his two worst for blocks.
Here's the Dirk and Duncan splits for comparison.
| Situation | G | Min | FGM | FGA | Pct | 3PM | 3PA | Pct | FTM | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Ast | TO | Stl | Blk | PF | PPG | |||||
| Pre All-Star | 51 | 37:30:00 | 9.5 | 20 | 47.5 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 37.9 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 90.9 | 1.1 | 7.2 | 8.3 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 25.9 | |||||
| Post All-Star | 30 | 38:00:00 | 9.7 | 19.9 | 48.7 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 31.5 | 5.8 | 6.8 | 85.7 | 1.1 | 7.5 | 8.6 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 25.8 |
| Situation | G | Min | FGM | FGA | Pct | 3PM | 3PA | Pct | FTM | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Ast | TO | Stl | Blk | PF | PPG | |||||
| Pre All-Star | 50 | 35:17:00 | 8.1 | 15.6 | 52.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 69.6 | 2.7 | 7.8 | 10.5 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 20.8 | |||||
| Post All-Star | 25 | 30:23:00 | 6.1 | 13.2 | 46.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.3 | 6.3 | 68.2 | 2.7 | 8.3 | 11 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 16.4 |