On a silky pull-jumper, Dirk Nowiztki became just the 17th player in NBA history to reach the 25,000 point plateau. The Dallas Mavericks’ forward reflected on the milestone following a 107-89 win over the New Orleans Hornets. Per the Dallas Morning News: “Needing 10 points Sunday to reach 25,000 points, Nowitzki scored points No. 25,000 and 25,001 on a post-up 18-foot jumper over Robin Lopez with 6:44 remaining in the second quarter, giving Dallas a 43-27 lead. ‘Yeah, I knew I had to get 10,’ he said. ‘I would have loved to do it at home, for our fans that supported me over the last 15 years and came out every year, came out every game, and even this year when we were struggling, the gym’s always full. The fans of Dallas have obviously meant a lot to my career and I would have loved to have done it at home, but it just didn’t happen that way. I knew I had to get 10 today. The guys knew it. We kept running one play after another for me to get it. Actually the shot right before, I thought was going in, and it rolled out. Coach came right back and called another play for me. We wanted to get it over there in the first half so we could focus on winning this game. But I’m proud of how the guys played.’ […] ‘That’s an unbelievable accomplishment, obviously,’ he said. ‘When I first got in this league, not knowing if I could make it here, that was a tough first year for me. In and out of the lineup. Not strong enough to play with the big boys. But Nellie (Don Nelson) was great for me. Nellie gave me a lot of confidence. I think not a lot of coaches, or maybe none, would have had a 7-footer out there shooting threes. That was right up his alley, so obviously that gave me a lot of confidence. The rest is history. Hard work … I think I worked hard over my 15 years in the league, and it paid off.'”
