May 15 2000 Colorado State named Bill Peterson as an assistant coach. Peterson had been a Mavs special assistant the previous 2 seasons, whose job was to help develop the younger players. 2006 Activated Keith Van Horn and placed Darrell Armstrong on IL with a left knee contusion. Van Horn had missed 42 days (17 games) with a broken right hand. Armstrong was activated 4 days (2 games) later. 2007 Dirk Nowitzki was named as the winner of the MVP award. Nowitzki received 1138 total points including 83 1st place votes from 129 media members. Steve Nash (Phoenix) finished 2nd in the voting with 1013 points including 44 1st place votes. It was the first time a Mav had been selected as MVP. 2012 Signed head coach Rick Carlisle to a new 4 year contract. Games Record: 3-1 (home: 3-0, road: 0-1) Playoffs Score Dallas Dallas High Opponent Year WL Opponent Dal-Opp Margin High Scorer Rebounder High Scorer 1988 W Denver 124-103 +21 Aguirre 34 Tarpley 13 English 24 Dallas took their largest lead at 95-69 with 0:24 left in the 3rd quarter. Dallas shot 54.6% FG and Denver shot 40.2% FG. Dallas tied the team playoff record with 36 assists. Mark Aguirre had 34 points including 14-20 FG and Roy Tarpley had 24 points and 13 rebounds including 7 offensive. Alex English had 24 points, Blair Rasmussen had 23 points and 9 rebounds, and Mike Evans had 19 points. Fat Lever (strained right knee) and Jay Vincent (pulled right calf muscle) [with Denver] did not play. Game 4: Series tied 2-2; Dallas would win series 4-2 Playoffs Score Dallas Dallas High Opponent Year WL Opponent Dal-Opp Margin High Scorer Rebounder High Scorer 2003 L @Sacramento 109-115 -6 Van_Exel 35 Nowitzki 12 Stojakov 24 Sacramento scored 9 straight points to go up 103-95 with 4:40 left. Steve Nash hit consecutive 3-pointers to pull Dallas within 109-111 with 50 seconds left. Predrag Stojakovic missed with 29 seconds left. Walt Williams missed a 3-point attempt with 12 seconds left as the shot clock was running out. Sacramento hit 4 free throws to cap the scoring. Dallas shot 19-22 FT and Sacramento shot 31-32 FT (missing their first and then hitting their next 31) - setting the opponent playoff record for free throw percentage at 96.9%. Nick Van Exel had 35 points including 5-11 3-pointers, Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points including 11-12 FT and 12 rebounds, and Michael Finley had 21 points. Predrag Stojakovic had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Vlade Divac had 21 points, Bobby Jackson had 21 points, Doug Christie had 20 points including 10-11 FT and 9 rebounds, and Jim Jackson had 16 points and 12 rebounds including 7 offensive. Adrian Griffin (sprained right ankle) and Chris Webber (torn meniscus left knee) did not play. Game 6: Series tied 3-3; Dallas would win series 4-3 Playoffs Score Dallas Dallas High Opponent Year WL Opponent Dal-Opp Margin High Scorer Rebounder High Scorer 2005 W Phoenix 119-109 +10 Howard 29 Dampier 11 SNash 48 Josh Howard had 29 points including 13-21 FG and 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 8 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse had 22 points and 7 rebounds. Erick Dampier had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Steve Nash had 48 points, setting the opponent playoff high. It was the 8th time a Mavs opponent had 40+ points in the playoffs. Dallas went with the strategy of let Nash score and defend the pass, which Nash took advantage of and had 23 points in the 3rd quarter (all but 6 of Phoenix's points). He also had just 5 assists after averaging 14 in the first 3 games. Nash also had 9 turnovers, setting the opponent playoff high. And the strategy worked in containing Amare Stoudemire who had just 15 points after averaging 35.7 points in the first 3 games. Shawn Marion had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Keith Van Horn did not play due to a sprained left ankle (out for the rest of the playoffs). Joe Johnson (Pho) did not play due to a fractured orbital bone (out for the rest of the series). Game 4: Series tied 2-2; Phoenix would win series 4-2 Playoffs Score Dallas Dallas High Opponent Year WL Opponent Dal-Opp Margin High Scorer Rebounder High Scorer 2006 W San Antonio(OT) 123-118 +5 JTerry 32 DN/ED 9 TParker 33 Keith Van Horn did not play due to recovering from surgery on his right hand (the last of 18 games he would miss due to the injury). Dirk Nowitzki played with a sprained ankle. Gregg Popovich (SA) made a lineup change and Michael Finley started in place of Robert Horry. Finley (SA) hit a 3-pointer 15.4 seconds in the 4th quarter to give San Antonio a 111-109 lead. Nowitzki hit 2 free throws to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left in the 4th. Tim Duncan (SA) missed a shot at the buzzer and the game went in to overtime. It was one of the best games in team history. The largest lead in the last 15 minutes of the game by either team was just 5 points. Jason Terry had 32 points, Nowitzki had 28 points including 14-15 FT and 9 rebounds, Jerry Stackhouse had 26 points, and Devin Harris had 18 points including 7-10 FG, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Tony Parker (SA) had 33 points including 9-14 FT, Tim Duncan (SA) had 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Manu Ginobili (SA) had 26 points including 8-11 FG and 4-4 3-pointers. Game 4: Dallas led series 3-1; Dallas would win series 4-3