Dirk Nowitzki's sub-par shooting in the NBA Finals is becoming a concern for the Dallas Mavericks, who are not getting nearly enough out of their superstar.

A native of Wurzburg, Germany, and his country's biggest basketball star, Nowitzki endured his third poor shooting game of the Finals on Sunday, making eight of 19 shots in a 101-100 overtime loss. For the series, the seven-footer is shooting just 37% (31 of 83).

Primarily defended by forwards Udonis Haslem and James Posey, Nowitzki also is facing a variety of team defenses.

The Heat began the series by bringing a double-team from behind Nowitzki, trying to surprise him into bad decisions. In Game Five, Miami used a variation of a box-and-one to shadow Nowitzki.

"I thought they did the same thing they did the first four games - body up," said Nowitzki, who will lead Germany at the FIBA World Championship in August.

"I thought (when I was) posted up, Shaq (Heat center Shaquille O'Neal) was coming up low. They were just swarming me."

"The way they are playing him, they are basically in a box-and-one and bringing another guy over, so it's tough for him to get his shots," Mavericks guard Jason Terry said.

"When he does have an opportunity, he's being aggressive, he's taking the ball strong to the hole and that's all we can ask of him."

The breakout star of the post-season, Nowitzki torched Memphis for three 30-point games in the first round, San Antonio for two in the conference semi-finals and Phoenix for two in the conference finals. However, he has reached 30 points in the Finals just once, in Game Three.

"Well, we'd like for him to break out," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "If Dirk had this game in November or February, somewhere on the road, you just pack up and go to the next city. But if he has a game like that in The Finals, it's magnified."

There are some recent positive signs. Nowitzki sank a tough jumper over O'Neal to give the Mavericks the lead with 9.1 seconds remaining, the type of shot they have grown accustomed to him making.

And the Heat's commitment to defending Nowitzki have increased scoring opportunities for Terry and Josh Howard and opened up rebounding lanes. After losing the battle of the boards in three of the first four games, Dallas held a 42-33 advantage on the glass in Game Five.

"If we can get some consistency from all of our guys there and rebound, it doesn't matter what kind of game Dirk's having, we can still have a chance to win," Johnson said.

"We'll go home, get some home cooking and Dirk will be ready," Terry said. "We're not concerned about anything Dirk does offensively."

Article courtesy of www.fiba.com