By Jay Betsill
At first glance of the schedule, the Dallas Mavericks‘ seventh game of the season stood out because it was the 1000th game in the legendary career of 10-time NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki. The added subplot came in the opponent being the Phoenix Suns led by former Mavs star (and Dirk’s close friend) Steve Nash.
Then came the breaking news from TMZ that Kim Kardashian was coming to Big D to help her sister Khloe and her husband, new Mavs forward Lamar Odom, move into their new condo in the W Dallas Victory Hotel. The chatter leading up to the game surrounded whether the newly single Kim — fresh off her divorce from former Mavs center Kris Humphries — would accompany Khloe to American Airlines Center for the game.
Following a day of retail therapy including a stop at Stanley Korshak at the Crescent, the sisters did indeed arrive for the big game. When the arena’s giant video board showed Khloe and Kim were present, there was an eruption of cheers from the Dallas fans who appeared a tad on the starstruck side. Ironically, it was Odom’s best game since the Mavs acquired him from the Los Angeles Lakers as he scored 15 points.
Not to be upstaged, Dirk scored 20 points and added seven assists to lead Dallas to a 98-89 victory over Phoenix. Nowitzki is the 98th player in NBA history to hit the 1,000 game mark. The win gave the defending NBA champion Mavs their first winning streak of the season.
Of note, Micheal Finley — the third member of Dallas’ famed “Big Three” of Nash, Nowitzki and Finley — received a big ovation when shown sitting courtside. Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was sporting a Robert Graham shirt from his courtside seat. And members of both the Arkansas Razorbacks and Kansas State Wildcats football teams were also in the house. The two teams are set to meet in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday night at Cowboys Stadium.
This particular night was a huge reminder that ‘the place to see and be seen’ in DFW is a Dallas Mavericks game at American Airlines Center.
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