Nowitzki still working as Mavs face elimination

As usual, Dirk Nowitzki stayed on the practice court long after the rest of the Dallas players, shooting jumper after jumper on a day between first-round playoff games against Houston.

Never mind that the Mavericks trailed 3-0 in the series.

The 7-foot German was coming off a fourth quarter like so many others in 14 trips to the postseason, scoring 16 of his 34 points in an effort that was not good enough to keep Dallas from facing a deficit that has never been overcome in the NBA playoffs.