Getty Dwyane Wade (L) of the Miami Heat passes to teammate Chris Bosh (R) before Dirk Nowitzki (R) of the Dallas Mavericks during Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 7, 2011 at the AmericanAirlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Tonight the Dallas Mavericks visit the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena at 7:30 PM ET and it will be the last time that Dirk Nowitzki battles with Dwyane Wade.
Both Nowitzki and Wade are playing the last games of their careers but their numbers and contributions to their teams are very different.
Unlike Wade, Dirk Nowitzki never officially announced that he’s retiring after the season but people assume he won’t return to the Mavericks once his contract ends and no one imagines him playing for another NBA franchise. The legendary forward is averaging career-lows with 6.3 points in 14.0 minutes over 43 games (12 starts) this season.
Dwyane Wade on the other hand still plays a big role for the Heat, averaging 14.4 points, 4.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds in 25.6 minutes over 64 games off the bench.
These two teams met on February 13 in Dallas and Wade carried the Heat to a 112-101 win, scoring 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting in 22 minutes while Nowitzki finished with 12 points on 5 of 14 shooting in 17 minutes.
The Nowitzki and Wade matchups have created many memorable moments and both Mavericks and Heat have had all types of reactions to them. In 2006, Wade was in his third year in the league and he led a Heat team that had Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Williams, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning and Antoine Walker to the first NBA Championship in Heat history. Miami trailed Dallas 2-0 before winning four straight with Wade being named Finals MVP.
Then in 2011 Nowitzki and the Mavs got their revenge, winning the NBA Championship in the first season of the Heat’s Big 3 of Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Miami had a 2-1 lead before losing three straight. Dallas had Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry in their roster and Nowitzki was the Finals MVP.
Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki will likely meet for the 35th and final time including the playoffs tonight.
The future Hall-of-Famers are among the most decorated players of all-time and have produced similar career accomplishments, and they’re 17-17 against each other.
These are the numbers of the 34 head-to-head meetings between the two future Hall-of-Famers:
Regular season: 11-11
Playoffs: 6-6
NBA Finals against each other: 1-1
NBA Finals MVP Trophies against each other: 1-1
Total head-to-head points: Wade 824, Nowitzki 790
The Mavericks have lost four of their last five games and they won’t make the playoffs but the Heat can’t take them lightly, this team ranks 12th in the NBA, allowing 110.1 points per game and rookie point guard Luka Doncic is averaging 22.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 32.2 minutes over 12 games in March and he just recorded his seventh triple-double of the season with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in a 125-121 home loss against the Kings last Tuesday.
The Heat suffered a tough 104-99 home loss against the Magic on Tuesday to fall a half-game behind them for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and this is a must-win contest for them. This game means more to the Heat but Wade and Nowitzki clearly want to settle who will take their head-to-head matchup, so both of them will play hard tonight in what should be an emotional night in South Beach.
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