DALLAS -- After helping Dallas win two straight playoff
games by sinking clutch free throws, Dirk Nowitzki divulged Tuesday
the secret to his success.
"You just try to relax," he said. "There are a lot of things
going through your mind. I try to sing sometimes to kind of take
the pressure off."
It must be one heck of a tune considering Nowitzki made two foul
shots with 7.9 seconds left for the tying and winning points in
Game 3 against San Antonio, then forced overtime by making two foul
shots with 8.5 seconds left in regulation of Game 4.
Smiling wide and laughing loud, he said the song was David
Hasselhoff's "Looking For Freedom," a big hit when he was a kid
in Germany.
Told about his star's ritual, Mavs coach Avery Johnson said he
wished he'd known about it sooner.
"He should've taught me that," Johnson said. "I was only a
68, 70 percent free-throw shooter when I played. I never thought of
that."
The Mavericks lead the Spurs 3-1 going into Game 5 on Wednesday
night in San Antonio.
Nowitzki badly twisted his right ankle with 1:05 left in Game 3
and it was still swollen the morning of Game 4. He said Tuesday it
was still "a little stiff" but not enough to sideline him.