was 45 points. After dropping the second-half opener to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Mavericks went on to win 13-straight games before losing to the New York Knicks. On April 10, the Mavericks clinched the Southwest division after defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 83–77. The Mavericks finished the season with an impressive 55–27 record, good enough for the second seed in the Western Conference. The Mavericks then entered the postseason with quite a bit of optimism and an assurance that they could seriously contend for a title. During the playoffs though, this optimism proved to be short lived, because after winning game one 100–94, behind Nowitzki's 36-point performance, the Mavericks dropped the next three games to their in-state rivals, the San Antonio Spurs, before winning game five. Dallas would eventually lose against San Antonio in six games 97–87, leading to yet another off-season full of speculation, mostly centering on franchise player Dirk Nowitzki's pending free agent status. 2010 off-season After yet another first round melt-down, the Mavericks began an unexpectedly early off-season. The first order of business for Mark Cuban and the Mavericks was to re-sign Dirk Nowitzki, and did so on July 4, 2010, when the Mavericks and Dirk agreed to a 4-year deal worth $80M. On July 13, the Dallas Mavericks after losing the opportunity to sign LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Amar'e Stoudemire acquired centers Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinca from the Charlotte Bobcats for center Erick Dampier, forward Eduardo Nájera and guard Matt Carroll. 2010–2011 season: Championship season The 2010–11 campaign saw the Mavericks fly out of the gate, winning 24 out of their first 29 games. However, on December 27, Dirk Nowitzki sustained a knee injury that derailed the Mavericks momentum, combined with the team's second-leading scorer Caron Butler suffering a season-ending knee injury himself only four nights later, raising questions of if the Mavericks could make it 11 straight 50-win seasons. The Mavericks then went on to drop their next seven games, causing serious concern as to who would lead the offense in Nowitzki's absence. This however would prove to only be a temporary setback because Nowitzki only missed nine games, and admittedly rushed back to assist the Mavericks' reeling offense, and consequently they quickly returned to their winning ways. The Mavericks re-invented their defensive reputation around the league during the 2010–11 campaign, mostly in part to off-season acquisition Tyson Chandler (who was later