NBA Insider with Ken Berger

It turns out Dirk Nowitzki went out for sushi yesterday after his marathon, solo practice session at Columbia University. He looked fine at shootaround this morning at the Garden, so the Knicks made their first mistake against the Mavericks.

Couldn’t someone in the MSG reconnaissance department have trailed him and paid the sushi chef to serve Dirk some tainted tuna?

Nowitzki said the sushi was “damn good,” although it must not have been that good because he couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant. Assistant coach Del Harris was pleased with his meal and the surroundings at Kean’s, the old-school steakhouse in Midtown.

None of this will matter tonight at 7:30, when the Mavericks figure to carve up the Knicks like a filet mignon.

Avery Johnson must come from the same poor-mouth school of coaching as Isiah Thomas, because he kept going on and on about how the Mavericks, with the best record in the NBA at 54-11, aren’t the same team without role players Devean George and Greg Buckner. Against the Knicks, they’ll miss Buckner only from the standpoint that he does the best imitation of Johnson on the team.

Phoenix and Dallas both are stumbling a bit since their epic overtime clash last Wednesday night, but don’t expect a letdown from the Mavericks tonight. Nowitzki said he respects the Knicks and hasn’t forgotten the Mavericks’ overtime loss here last January.

“We know the Knicks are a capable team,” Nowitzki said. “They can beat you any given night. They’re a physical team. They go to the glass hard. I guess if we play our game we’ve got a pretty good shot at winning. But for us getting ready for the playoffs, we have to know how to win on the road and we want to come in here, hopefully play well and win.”

I figure the Knicks will make a game of it tonight, because they always seem to play well against teams they have no business beating. It’s the lesser teams – like the Hornets last Friday night – that give them trouble.

But to beat the Mavericks, you have to do two things: 1) Shoot better than 40 percent from the three-point line; and 2) Score 100 or more points. Seven of the Mavericks’ 11 losses have come when the opponent shot at least 40 percent on three-pointers, and they’re 4-6 on the road this season when allowing 100 or more points.

Without Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson, you can forget a big outside shooting night for the Knicks, who have hit the century mark only twice in the last 12 games.

I’ve got to give Alan Hahn props for panning Mike & the Mad Dog in his blog. Driving home from the Dallas shootaround a while ago, when Mike and Dog were handicapping the Knicks’ playoff chances, it sounded like they were reading from Hahn’s blog.

I’ll be looking for Alan’s advance copy of Steve Somers’ transcript for the ride home tonight.