Jazz, advancing to the second round for the first time since 1988. Even though they would be eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in five games, it marked a sense of optimism for Dallas in seriously contending for an NBA title. This was also the last season in the old Reunion Arena before making the move to the modern American Airlines Center. 2001–2004: "Big Three" of Nash, Nowitzki, and Finley These years also saw Nowitzki win the first two of his five consecutive Euroscar Awards as the top player in Europe, in 2002 and 2003. (Note that this award is presented at the end of a calendar year, as opposed to the end of the season as in the NBA awards.) 2001–02 The 2001–02 season was a great season for the Mavericks, with a 57–25 record and many sellout crowds in the American Airlines Center. This season also saw a change in logo and colors, changing from the cowboy hat logo and green to a new horse logo. In addition, the team gained sleeker uniforms. Another blockbuster trade sent Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway and Donnell Harvey to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Raef LaFrentz, Nick Van Exel, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Avery Johnson, the Mavericks also made several attempts to sign the Utah Jazz's star Karl Malone. The Mavericks swept the Kevin Garnett-led Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs but lost again in the second round, this time to the Chris Webber-led Sacramento Kings. 2002–03 But it was only in the next season when the Mavericks finally broke through. They started the 2002–03 season with a 14–0 record which was 1 shy of tying the NBA record set by the 1993–94 Houston Rockets (15–0). The Mavericks finished with a 60–22 record in the regular season, astonishing fans and critics with their sparkling offense. The "Big Three" Nowitzki, Finley, and Nash were a 100-point-game waiting to happen and led the Mavericks into the Conference Finals against the Tim Duncan-led San Antonio Spurs. However, with the series tied 1–1 Dirk Nowitzki, the team's leading scorer, suffered a knee injury in game three that kept him out of the rest of the series. This worsened the Mavs depth problem in the front court (both of their backup centers were injured for the entire series) and the Spurs took the series in 6 games. 2003–04 In 2003–04, two blockbuster trades were announced. The Mavericks acquired