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Dallas Mavericks History Online Information and NBA Betting Odds at WagerWeb SportsbookNBA Dallas Mavericks History betting odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
They started the 2002-03 season with a 14-0 record which was 1 shy of tying the NBA record set by the Houston Rockets who started the 1993-94 season with 15-0 record. The Mavericks finished with a 60–22 record in the regular season, astonishing fans and critics with their sparkling offense. The "Big Three" Nowitzki-Finley-Nash were a 100-point-game waiting to happen and led the Mavericks into the Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. However, with the series tied 1–1 Dirk Nowitzki, the team's leading scorer, suffered a knee injury in game three that kept him out of the rest of the series. This worsened the Mavs depth problem in the front court (both of their backup centers were injured for the entire series) and the Spurs took the series in 6 games. In 2003-04, two blockbuster trades were announced. The Mavericks acquired Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills from Golden State in exchange for Nick Van Exel, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones, Avery Johnson and Antoine Rigaudeau. Another high-profile trade sent Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills and Jiri Welsch to Boston for Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. Although the team struggled for chemistry, the Mavericks easily qualified for the playoffs. With the trio Nowitzki-Finley-Nash and NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Jamison, the Mavericks continued their reputation as the best offensive team in the NBA. Notable were two rookies, Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels, who made an immediate impact. However, the Mavericks were eliminated quickly in the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Sacramento Kings, a team which clearly played better defense. The Mavericks management had to re-evaluate their strategy. Roster changes lead to Finals The 2004-05 season brought in blockbuster trades which (among others) brought in burly center Erick Dampier, combo guard Jason Terry, speedy rookie point guard Devin Harris, scoring machine Jerry Stackhouse, and defensive stalwart Alan Henderson. Although the loss of All-Star Steve Nash via free agency visibly hurt the Mavericks' offense, the new acquisitions strengthened the team defense. The run-and-gun style of former times changed into a more balanced style of play. At the All-Star break, the Mavericks acquired Keith Van Horn for Calvin Booth and Henderson, the latter resigning only days later. On March 19, longtime coach Don Nelson resigned and his assistant Avery Johnson succeeded him. Under Johnson's tutelage, the defense of the Mavericks became stronger and they easily qualified for the playoffs with an impressive 58–24 record.
The Mavericks defeated the Houston Rockets in Round 1 of the playoffs in 7 games but then lost to the Phoenix Suns 2–4, led by former Maverick star Steve Nash. Prior to the 2005 NBA Draft, the Mavericks had traded all their picks away and were left empty-handed. On August 15, 2005, veteran guard Michael Finley was waived under the new "Allan Houston Rule". Under this rule, the Orlando Magic waived Doug Christie, who then signed with the Mavericks. On August 19, the Mavericks held a press conference announcing they had re-signed Darrell Armstrong, and introduced Christie, DeSagana Diop, Rawle Marshall, and Josh Powell as new Mavericks. Christie's playing time was very limited amidst a surgically-repaired ankle still hampering his play. He was waived on November 25, 2005. Up until the very end of the season, the Mavericks would be toe-to-toe with the San Antonio Spurs for the crown of the Southwest Division as well as the #1 spot in the Western Conference. However, they fell short of the title and had to settle for a fourth seed. Nonetheless, they once again achieved a 60–22 record, with Avery Johnson winning NBA Coach of the Year honors. In the playoffs, they swept the Memphis Grizzlies, leading to a titanic series against their state rivals and the reigning NBA champions the San Antonio Spurs. Five out of the seven games were decided in the last minute, including a Game 7 that had to go into overtime. Yet under the guidance of Dirk Nowitzki and an incredibly deep bench, the Mavericks were able to advance to the Conference Finals against former teammate Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. While the Suns did extend the series to six games, the Mavs' defense and depth allowed them to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. 2006 NBA Finals The Mavericks advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history when they defeated the Phoenix Suns in game 6 of the Western Conference Finals on June 3, 2006 in the US Airways Center in Phoenix. They faced the Miami Heat in the finals, held home-court advantage and scored two convincing wins. After game 2 Dallas city officials had already planned the victory parade. However, in Game 3, the Mavs blew a late double-digit lead, courtesy of Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who scored at least 36 points during each of the next four matches. He carried the Heat to the win, with Nowitzki missing a potentially game-tying free throw in the last seconds. After getting blown out in Game 4, the Mavericks suffered another loss in Game 5 when Wade scored the game-tying basket in the last possession of regular time, putting the Heat ahead with last-second free throws in overtime. The tragic figure was Josh Howard, who missed a pair of clutch free throws in overtime and mistakenly called an early timeout, so the Mavs had to bring in the ball at backcourt rather than halfcourt for the last possession. In Game 6, the Mavericks took an early double digit lead, but again, Wade poured in 36 points, helped by Alonzo Mourning's five blocked shots, and the Mavericks lost their fourth game and the title after a string of botched three pointers. Mavericks fans blamed the Mavericks's loss on poor officiating. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was fined a total of $250,000 for "several acts of misconduct" during the series, Nowitzki was fined $5,000 for kicking a ball into the stands after Game 5, and Jerry Stackhouse was suspended for Game 5 after fouling Shaquille O'Neal on a breakaway dunk attempt. The latter marked the third time a Mavericks player was suspended in the 2006 playoffs. The Mavericks became only the third team in NBA history (the first since 1977) to lose in the Finals after taking a 2–0 lead. In Game 3, the Mavs held a 13-point lead with under seven minutes remaining but were outscored 22–7 in the momentum-changing 98–96 defeat. The Heat's performance in the last seven minutes represented the team's greatest postseason comeback in team history After losing the last four games of the 2006 NBA Finals, the first four-game skid of Avery Johnson's career, it was clear that some mixing up had to take place. It would prove to be a busy offseason for the Mavericks as such they made sure to keep the core of the Western Conference Champion team of last season intact. The Mavs would draft rookie Maurice Ager, trade Marquis Daniels for Austin Croshere of Indiana, trade Josh Powell, Rawle Marshall, and Darrell Armstrong in exchange for Anthony Johnson of Indiana, sign Greg Buckner of Denver, sign Devean George of Los Angeles, and waive Pavel Podkolzin. After clearly improving their personnel during the summer, the Mavs were many experts' favorites to return to the Finals, but others feared that the team may have a hangover from the emotionally-heated Finals from a year ago. Whether or not a hangover was the actual reason, the Mavs started off the season the same way they ended the 2006 Finals — with a four-game losing streak. However, reigning Coach of the Year Avery Johnson was able to give his team a spark by inserting Devin Harris and Erick Dampier into the starting lineup; since their four-game skid to begin the season, the Mavs won 12 straight, which at the time was the third longest win streak in franchise history. They also had a 13-game winning streak later on, tied for the second longest win streak in Mavericks history. On February 9, 2007, the Mavs set a franchise record with their seventeenth straight home victory in a 95–74 victory over the Rockets. The Mavs recorded their third double-digit game winning streak of the season on February 22, 2007 to become the fourth team in NBA history to do this. But they are the only team in history to have won at least 12 games during every streak. The Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road 91–65 setting a franchise record-low for points scored by an opponent. The win also guaranteed the first perfect month in franchise history, and the first in the NBA since the 1995-1996 Spurs. From January 27 to March 12, 2007, the Mavericks enjoyed a 17-game winning streak, the longest win streak in the team's history, until finally losing to the Golden State Warriors (100–117) wherein they trailed by as much as 31, even though they finished the game with a 17-point deficit. The next opponents they faced, after their loss, were the second best Phoenix Suns. Dallas faced them at home with a 23-game home winning streak to protect. That streak was also snapped when the Suns defeated them in double over time (129–127) on March 14, 2007. The Mavericks hadn’t lost two games in a row since the beginning of the season when they started 0–4 and ironically defeated the Phoenix Suns to win their first game. With their win on March 6, 2007, the Mavericks had won 51 of their last 56 games. The only other team to do this in NBA history (and any other North American major league sport) in a single season were the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. Dallas clinched its third 60-win season in franchise history and its second straight on March 28, 2007. They clinched their franchise-record 61st win two days later in a 105–103 over the Knicks. Dirk Nowitzki surpassed 15,000 career-points that same night becoming the 105th player and fourth European to accomplish this feat. Dallas clinched its first division title in 20 years when San Antonio lost on April 1, 2007. Their hopes of winning 70 games and gaining the second-best record all time were crushed by the Denver Nuggets, who beat them on April 6, 75–71. On April 9th, 2007 the Mavs defeated the Clippers 96–86 to clinch the NBA's best record at 67–15 and home court advantage all throughout the playoffs. They headed into the playoffs going against the same Golden State Warriors who ended their record winning streak in March. However, the Warriors were not a typical 8th seed. Despite the Mavericks great season, the Warriors, ironically, were the one team they didn't beat all season. The Mavericks had a chance to eliminate the Warriors from playoff contention when they traveled to Oakland on April 17, 2007. However, Avery Johnson, in a controversial decision, decided to rest four key players for the Mavs and the red hot Warriors disposed of them easily 111-82. The Warriors, who clinched the final playoff spot on the final day of the regular season, shocked the Mavs in Game 1 with a 97–85 final. Dallas bounced back to even the series in Game 2 with a sound 112–99, breaking a six-game losing streak to Golden State in the process. However as the series shifted to Oakland for the next two games, the Mavs found themselves unprepared to match-up against Golden State's frantic style of play, as well as the boisterous Warrior crowd, who waited 13 years for a playoff game from their team. The Warriors came back to rout the Mavs 109–91 in Game 3 and then edged the Mavs 103–99 in Game 4 to take a stunning 3–1 series lead. The Mavs did score a Game 5 victory in Dallas by a score of 118–112, but the Warriors proved too much of a mismatch for the Mavs, as Golden State finished off the top-seed in Game 6 with a resounding 111–86 victory in one of the greatest upsets in NBA playoff history. Dirk Nowitzki was named the 2007 NBA Regular Season MVP and was made official on May 15, 2007 at a press conference in Dallas. Season-by-season records
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