Nowtizki's health the key for Mavs
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

BALANCING ACT - Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki stretches before a game against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. That was a game the Mavericks had to win, realistically, with the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns coming up. Nowitzki returned from an ankle injury to help Dallas beat Golden State, but the Mavericks may need a bit of a miracle to stay in seventh in the Western Conference with the schedule they have left.

DALLAS (AP) - The unexpected return of Dirk Nowitzki helped the stumbling Dallas Mavericks find the swagger that made them an NBA finalist last year.

The 111-89 blowout of Golden State on Wednesday night was a stunning reversal for a squad that had gone 0-10 against winning teams since acquiring Jason Kidd and slid down the playoff standings in March. It was Dallas' first losing month since 2000, when the Mavericks last missed the postseason.

The Mavericks (47-28), in seventh place in the West's playoff race, visits the Los Angeles Lakers tonight at 9:30 p.m. Central time.

Nowitzki didn't practice Thursday after his early return from a high ankle sprain, but coach Avery Johnson said he looked "pretty good."

"The word 'swagger' has several letters in it, and we just don't want to stop on the 's'," Johnson said. "We need to keep going consistently."

Johnson used another "s" word - steel - to describe Nowitzki. The big German had 18 points and five rebounds in nearly 27 minutes, but there's not a stat sheet anywhere that describes how the reigning MVP was most valuable against the Warriors.

A dejected-looking Nowitzki told reporters hours before the Golden State game that he didn't think he'd be ready to go. Maybe he was sandbagging. Or maybe he had time to realize that a loss to the Warriors would have been the sixth loss in eight games with visits to the Lakers and Phoenix up next.

"Just seeing Dirk out there gave us a lot of life," said Josh Howard, who averaged 30 points in the four games Nowitzki missed and scored 28 Wednesday. "His presence is big on this team, and we came out and played hard for him."

A loss would have left Dallas tied with Golden State in the three-team scrum for the final two playoff spots (Denver is the other). The Mavericks haven't escaped the jam, but they're two games up on the Warriors, tiebreaker in hand, with seven left.

Johnson was still talking about the crowd's reaction to Nowitzki's pregame introduction. "That was the loudest ovation that I've ever heard for him last night, since I played or now coaching."